Deals from Hell: M&A lessons that rise above the ashes

435 Pages·2005·2.47 MB·English

by  Robert F. Bruner

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D E A L S F R O M
HHEELLLL
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D E A L S F R O M
HHEELLLL
M&A Lessons That
Rise Above the Ashes
Robert F. Bruner
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ffirs.qxd 3/5/09 9:05 PM Page iv Aptara Inc.
Copyright © 2005 by Robert F.Bruner.All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons,Inc.,Hoboken,New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Bruner,Robert F.
Deals from hell :M & A lessons that rise above the ashes / Robert F.Bruner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-471-39595-9 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-470-45259-2 (paper)
1. Consolidation and merger of corporations. 2. Business failures. I. Title.
HG4028.M4B78 2005
658.1'62—dc22
2004029114
Printed in the United States of America.
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A writer doesn’t so much choose a story as a story chooses him.I
know lots of stories,but for some reason only a few grab hold of
me.They catch me and worry me and stick with me and raise
questions ...
—Robert Penn Warren
To my students:
May these stories grab hold of you,worry you,
and continue to raise questions.
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Contents
Foreword by Arthur Levitt,Jr. ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. Introduction 1
I. The Foundations of M&A Failure
2. Where M&A Pays and Where It Strays:A Survey of Research 13
3. Profiling the Outlying M&A Deals 55
4. Real Disasters and M&A Failure 65
II. Case Studies of M&A Failure
5. February 1968: Merger of the Pennsylvania and New York
Central Railroads 95
6. December 1986:The Leveraged Buyout of Revco Drug Stores 127
7. September 1989:The Acquisition of Columbia Pictures by
Sony Corporation 148
8. September 1991:The Acquisition of NCR Corporation by
AT&T Corporation 175
9. December 1993: Renault’s Proposed Merger with Volvo 200
10. December 1994:The Acquisition of Snapple by Quaker Oats 228
11. May 1999: Mattel’s Acquisition of The Learning Company 246
12. January 2001: Merger of AOL and Time Warner 265
13. December 2001: Dynegy’s Proposed Merger with Enron 292
14. January 2002:Acquisition Program of Tyco International 314
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viii CONTENTS
III. Avoiding the Deal from Hell
15. Conclusions and Implications 341
16. Memo to the CEO:A Coda on Growth 363
References 368
About the Author 407
Index 409