Word: bigs
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Then began what both sides describe as more of a "dating process" than a financial negotiation. Blending two corporate cultures can be a problem in big mergers, but it is far more crucial in small companies. If their employees do not get along with one another and leave for a more congenial atmosphere, the merged company can easily be wrecked...
...success in another sense--as "a way to build a bridge that would eventually get me out of there. My m.o. is to build something quickly" and then move on. He has no intention of emulating Oracle founder and still chief Larry Ellison. Oracle, Groves remarks, "got really big, and that's terrible because you can never escape from...
Mocha's comments point to another difference between little mergers and the monster variety (besides the obvious one of size). Although the conglomerate craze is waning, most big-time mergers still aim at a degree of diversification. But small firms almost always combine with others in the same industry. That, of course, frequently means mergers of direct competitors or potential competitors, like Personify and Anubis. But while trustbusters may try to stop such a merger between two giant competitors or at least attach onerous conditions, they are almost sure to ignore combinations of little competitors. It is difficult to imagine...
...which can make small-company combinations harder to arrange than big buyouts. John Mavredakis, senior manager of the Houlihan Lokey investment bank, has helped arrange both types. "When we work with large corporations, everything is methodical and rational," he says. "With smaller companies, emotions come much more into play. Personalities play a major role. There is the need of the entrepreneur, his desire to make sure that his employees are being treated fairly and that he is giving them a good home...
Such attitudes help deflect the hostility that big mergers often arouse. Rightly or wrongly, many communities fear that big mergers equal big layoffs and a loss of control over the local economy to faraway conglomerateurs. Since little mergers usually aim at faster growth and, eventually, more employment, they are usually seen as a positive force in the economy--and that perception seems correct...