Publications

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Anthology: Pivoting the Business Model

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

In July 2014, after 18 months and eight unsuccessful product launches, the CEO of Yabbly has agreed to sell his company to a larger, well-funded startup, providing a return of capital for his investors and a home for his team. Two weeks prior to the scheduled closing,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Innovation Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Fairness; Valuation; Technology Industry; Consumer Products Industry; North America; United States; Seattle

February 2003 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Internet Customer Acquisition Strategy at Bankinter

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Bankinter, a relatively small Spanish bank, has a large presence as an Internet financial services provider. Leading the way to profitability through the Internet will give Bankinter a major competitive advantage over the larger, more established Spanish banks. Ann... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Activity Based Costing and Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Spain

March 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

VacationSpot.com & Rent-A-Holiday: Negotiating a Trans-Atlantic Merger of Start-Ups

Describes a potential trans-Atlantic merger between two young companies in the Internet space. VacationSpot.com, based in Seattle, and Rent-A-Holiday, based in Brussels, both offer online listings and reservations for independent leisure lodging (i.e., villas,... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Valuation; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Travel Industry; United States; Brussels

February 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Pierre Foods Acquisition of Advance Foods (A)

By: Guhan Subramanian and Mike Harmon

This case (A), and its related cases (B-E), establish a setting to discuss an M&A transaction and some of the key legal contracts that are associated with it. In 2010, private equity backed food manufacturer Pierre Foods is contemplating the acquisition of a key... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation; Complexity

November 2002 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Keane's Acquisition of Metro Information Services (A)

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez

On August 21, 2001, Keane, Inc. announced the acquisition of Metro Information Services, Inc. This case analyzes the challenges facing firms and examines transactions whose major source of value creation hinges on intangible assets (e.g., people or knowledge). View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Value Creation; Goodwill Accounting; Problems and Challenges; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry

June 2003 (Revised September 2003)
Background Note

Acquisitions & Alliances: Introduction to the Course

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Helps students understand the multiple forms M&A deals can take, while framing the underlying dimensions that managers must consider when designing or assessing a given deal. Begins by introducing students to the ways in which M&A activity creates value, proceeds by... View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Mergers and Acquisitions

April 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions

By: Nancy D. Beaulieu, Boris Groysberg and Kyle Doherty

Profiles a firm that was reacquired by two companies with different degrees of success. Highlights integration challenges present in acquisition deals when the primary assets of the target are human capital. Focuses on Furman Selz's acquisition by Xerox in 1987; its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transition; Valuation; Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Integration; Organizational Culture; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

July 2020
Supplement

The Shuanghui-Smithfield Acquisition (B)

By: Dante Roscini and Stacy Tan

Keywords: United States; China

May 1994 (Revised November 1995)
Case

Shawmut National Corporation's Merger with Bank of Boston Corporation (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Presents the merger negotiations between Bank of Boston (BOB) and Shawmut National Corp. (SNC), two of the country's largest bank holding companies and requires students to value BOB's current offer for SNC. Provides an overview of recent events and trends in the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Banks and Banking; Ethics; Negotiation; Valuation; Management; Banking Industry; United States

August 2001 (Revised March 2004)
Supplement

Officenet (B): After the Merger

Describes the execution of a new economy merger. Officenet, a bricks-and-clicks retailer of office supplies, is sold to an Internet pure-play, Submarino.com. Officenet's founders are in Brazil, where the company recently expanded its operations, and must consider... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Brazil

February 2014
Teaching Note

Mylan Lab's Proposed Merger with King Pharmaceuticals

By: Lucy White

Perry Capital owns shares in King and, to facilitate approval of the merger, buys shares in Mylan, whilst hedging out its economic exposure to Mylan's share price using derivatives. The price at which Mylan proposes to merge with King is generous to King shareholders,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Voting; Ethics; Stock Shares; Investment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake

October 2023
Case

To Fizzle Out or Heat Up? PepsiCo and Coca-Cola’s SodaStream and Costa Coffee Acquisitions

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

U.S. beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola shared many similarities by August 2018—both were founded by pharmacists in the 1890s, grew to offer hundreds of drink brands, and championed rival flagship products that drove loyalists into taste-testing wars. That month,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Diversification; Expansion; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2004
Article

Launching a World-Class Joint Venture

By: James Bamford, David Ernst and David G. Fubini

More than 5,000 joint ventures, and many more contractual alliances, have been launched worldwide in the past five years. Companies are realizing that JVs and alliances can be lucrative vehicles for developing new products, moving into new markets, and increasing... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Strategic Alliances; Joint Ventures; Alliances; Organizational Structure; Alignment; Mergers and Acquisitions

2020
Working Paper

Dog Eat Dog: Balancing Network Effects and Differentiation in a Digital Platform Merger

By: Chiara Farronato, Jessica Fong and Andrey Fradkin

Digital platforms are increasingly the subject of regulatory scrutiny. In comparison to multiple competitors, a single platform may increase consumer welfare if network effects are large or may decrease welfare due to higher prices or reduction in platform variety. We... View Details

Keywords: Platform Differentiation; Digital Platforms; Network Effects; Measurement and Metrics; Mergers and Acquisitions; Outcome or Result

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June 2004
Case

Aventis SA (A): Planning for a Merger

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Eight executives at Hoechst and Rhone-Poulenc must make four crucial decisions on the eve of merging their companies to become Aventis--what would become the world's third largest pharmaceutical firm. In addition to formulating a vision and strategy, the two firms must... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Horizontal Integration; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

January 2025
Case

U.S. Steel: Proposed Acquisition by Nippon Steel

By: Willy C. Shih

The case setting is the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, which elicited a great deal of controversy. The real purpose of the case is to look at the history of the American steel industry since World War II and understand how the steel minimill... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business History; Technological Innovation; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; United States

November 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Merrill Lynch's Acquisition of Mercury Asset Management

By: Andre F. Perold, Imran Ahmed and Randolph B Altschuler

In the Spring of 1998, Merrill Lynch faced an array of challenges and opportunities related to its global asset management business. The firm had recently completed its $5.3 billion cash acquisition of U.K.-based Mercury Asset Management, a transaction that made it one... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Asset Management; Currency; Financial Strategy; Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retirement; Japan; Europe; United Kingdom