__NOTOC__
The term "merger mania", as used in financial and
law journal
A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also provi ...
s, describes a period of high activity in corporate
mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...
(
M&A),
[
"Merger Mania, Banking and Loans Article - Inc. Article",
Leslie Brokaw, March 1996, webpage:
]
Inc-MM-1996
[
"ABC News: Airline Merger Mania: Bigger Not Always Better",
John Nance, ABCNews Internet Ventures, November 2006, webpage:
]
ABCNews-Business-2114
with some merged companies then merging yet again into other companies within a few years. The term has been used for more than 37 years.
[
"William Davis - Book Web",
Moonlightchest.com, 2008, webpage:
]
MLChest-WDavis
.
The term ''merger mania'' is often used to describe the business activities of the 1990s,{{cn, date=July 2019 where many companies (or ''corporation
A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
s''), formerly separate for decades, were frequently merged, then some re-merged into other companies within a few years, with the resulting merged companies sometimes declaring bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
. The mergers were facilitated by changes in corporate law
Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...
which no longer separated various types of businesses previously limited from interlocking directorate
Two or more corporations have interlocking directorates when they share members of their boards of directors or each shares directors with a third firm. A person that sits on multiple boards is known as a ''multiple director''.Scott, 1997p. 7/re ...
s and antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
concerns.
Several companies founded in the early 20th century had ceased to exist by the end of the 1990s, due to mergers.
See also
* Poison pill
Notes
References
* "The IFLR guide to Mergers and Acquisitions 2004", ''International Financial Law Review'', 2004, webpage
IFLR-M&A-71
External links
* ''International Financial Law Review'', webpage
Mergers and acquisitions