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DealZone

Behind the deals and deal-makers

April 14th, 2008

The synergy myth

Posted by: Chris Kaufman
Tags: DealZone

mergers.jpgBlockbuster’s bid for Circuit City may herald an early return to the silly season, so we thought it would be a good time to look back at the last five years of mergers and how shareholders have fared. Our soon-to-be siblings at Thomson crunched the numbers since 2003 and found that fewer than half of the 45 deals done have been positive for the acquirers’ shareholders. Remember, most of these deals were done with the period of private equity madness still ahead, and the threat of recession hardly considered a possibility.

(Photo: The Economist)

2 comments so far

[…] Reuters on the synergy myth. Speaking of Reuters, it’s T-minus 48 hours until it officially hooks up with Daddy Thomson. […]

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[…] of existing firms? Dan Primack at peHUB looks at the most recent example

- Posted by Deal Journal - WSJ.com : Afternoon Reading: Finally, Delta-Northwest Ready for Take-Off?

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