118 Berk/DeMarzo • Corporate Finance, Fourth Edition, Global Edition
©2017 Pearson Education, Ltd.
28-9 List and define several defense strategies against takeovers.
28-10 Define the free rider problem, and describe how it can be alleviated by a toehold, a leveraged
buyout, or a freezeout merger.
III. Chapter Overview
The topic is motivated with a description of the merger between Anheuser-Busch and InBev. It
describes the important events in that transaction. This chapter first provides historical background
and trends in mergers and acquisitions. Next, the authors discuss both why a manager may pursue an
acquisition and the takeover process. Finally, the question of who gets the value when a takeover
occurs is addressed.
28.1 Background and Historical Trends
The global takeover market is active and large. Table 28.1 shows the 10 largest mergers from 1995 to
2015. Mergers appear to occur in distinct waves, as illustrated in Figure 28.1. Those waves seem to be
28.2 Market Reaction to a Takeover
Most U.S. states have laws requiring that shareholders who are forced to sell must receive a fair
value. In most cases, fair value is interpreted to be the share price before the merger announcement.
price of the target rise less than the premium offered? (3) Why does the acquirer not experience a
large price increase?
28.3 Reasons to Acquire
This section attempts to answer the first part of question 1 above. Namely, what benefits ensue from a
merger that would lead a company to pay more than the market price for the acquisition? The reasons
most often cited by acquirers are economies of scale and scope, vertical integration, expertise,
monopoly gains, efficiency gains, operating losses, diversification, and earnings growth.
One example of economies of scale and scope is Stride Rite’s acquisition of sports shoemaker