Corporate alliances and acquisitions

Companies can strengthen their operations in different ways:

By establishing a joint venture two or more companies agree to collaborate and jointly invest in a separate business project. This type of deal allows the partners to combine their strengths in one specific area.

A merger means that two companies, often in the same industry, come together to form one company. Companies merge for many reasons, for example, to increase market share and cut costs in certain areas, such as research and development.

Acquisition or takeover: one company accumulates enough of another company’s shares to take over control and ownership. Takeovers have two forms:

A friendly takeover consists of a straight buyout of a company, and happens frequently. The shareholders receive cash or an agreed-upon number of shares of the acquiring company’s stock.

A hostile takeover occurs when a company attempts to buy another whether the management of the target company likes it or not. This can usually occur only through publicly traded shares. This is difficult unless the shares of the target company are widely available and easily purchased.

In a joint venture we must take care of three things:

Business strategy: Begin with a well-articulated strategy. Determine and explain why you wish to enter a joint venture (JV) , why you have chosen your partners, and what you hope to achieve. Define involvement of the parent companies and how long the JV will last. Consider outcomes: what could cause you to terminate the JV, and what is the preferred exit strategy.

Human resources strategy: Develop a distinct identity and culture for the new organisation, communicate with employees, establish direct career paths, management and a means of return for employees transferred to the joint venture. Mantain open communication between the HR department of the parents and the joint venture.

Communication: It should be frequent and used to create a common vision, establish a connection with leadership and explain the new rules. Share as much information as you can, never sugar-coat or make false promises.

More on mergers:

The entire merger process is usually kept secret from the general public, and often from the majority of the employees at the involved companies.

Since many merger attempts do not succeed, and most are kept secret, it is difficult to estimate how many potential mergers occur in a given year.

A merger may be sought for a number of reasons, some of which are beneficial to the shareholders, some of which are not.

One use of the merger is to combine a very profitable company with a losing company in order to use the losses as a tax write-off.

Another type of popular merger brings together two companies that make different, but complementary, products.

A merger is usually handeled by an investment banker, who aids in transferring ownership of the company through the strategic issuance and sale of stock.

The merger process will no doubt change in the near future, as dynamic technologies allow for the development of a more streamlined marketplace which manages to protect the privacy of interested companies.

Phrasal verbs III

Match the following verbs with the correct prepositions to form phrasal verbs:

Catch Stand Speak End Get Go Go Look

Up Up On On Down Ahead By Under

Replace the words in italics with a suitable phrasal verb:

1) The company had hoped that the new sportswear designs would be a success but in fact they never really became popular.

2) They finished by having to abandon the idea altoghther.

3) Following the recent takeover of his company the chairman hes announced his intention to resign.

4) I’m afraid I can’t hear what you are saying. Could you talk louder please?

5) He’s new here, but he seems to be making progress.

6) Many businesses fail in their first year.

7) We need to think of the future and decide where we want to be in five years.

8) It’s a pity we let that opportunity pass; we need more orders like that.