Mergers and Acquisitions: Research

Research a Merger or Takeover of Your Choice. Key information is to include:

• Cost of Merger
• Key Players
• What type of merger? (e.g. Horizontal, Vertical, Conglomerate)
• What was gained from the merger?
• What was the strategy? (e.g. economies of scale, increasing market share, “synergies”)

This is meant to be descriptive. Have fun, find information about a company that you genuinely think is interesting. This should be 1-2 paragraphs MAXIMUM.

One strategy is to use a reputable source (e.g. the Economist) to find an article about the merger, then conduct supplemental research using other sources.

Some suggested mergers:

Recent Ones:

• Etsy snaps up Gen-Z focussed shopping app Depop for $1.6bn
• Amazon in talks to buy MGM Studios for $9bn
• William Hill: Caesars Palace-owner in 'advanced' talks over £2.9bn offer
• Mitie-Interserve deal
• Just Eat Takeaway to buy Grubhub
• Marston's and Carlsberg UK announce £780m merger
• Yahoo Japan and Line set to merge
• Rip Curl Founders Sell Iconic Surf Brand To Outdoor Specialists Kathmandu
• Just Eat in merger talks with Dutch company Takeaway.com
• Barrick Gold secures UK court approval for $1.2bn takeover of Acacia
• AB InBev sells Australian brewer to Asahi
• Dr Pepper Snapple merges with Keurig Green Mountain        

Famous Ones:

• Facebook to buy messaging app WhatsApp for $19bn
• Facebook buys Instagram photo sharing network for $1bn
• Disney to buy Marvel in $4bn deal
• Tata buys Jaguar in £1.15bn deal
• Microsoft and Nokia - a marriage made in hell?
• Microsoft confirms takeover of Skype
• Microsoft pays $2.5bn for Minecraft maker Mojang
• Orange and T-Mobile merge networks
• RBS secures takeover of ABN Amro
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8467007.stm       

Ryan’s example: Disney/Pixar or Disney/LucasFilm using this as a base:

• Disney buys Pixar in $7.4bn deal
• https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21684138-disney-making-fortune-and-safeguarding-its-future-buying-childhood-piece-piece (Google Search: “The Force is Strong with This Firm”)