Mergers and acquisitions is an important aspect of corporate strategy, finance and management. This is done with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities. It can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector as well as the new sector it just acquired without the hassle of creating a subsidiary from scratch. This activity is on the rise worldwide. According J. Finnegan in “Global Mergers and Acquisitions Activity Continue to Rise” article, this increase has been accompanied by the return of mega-deals (value exceeding $10 billion) driven primarily by large multinational corporations flush with cash in the U.S. Two of the biggest acquisitions in 2012 are from the Energy Industry and Tech industry where Duke Energy Corporation acquired Progress Energy Inc. and Google acquired Motorola Mobility.
I) Duke Energy Corp. acquired Progress Engergy Inc.
According to Yahoo finance, in the first case in the energy industry, when the merger was announced on January 10, 2011, the transaction value totaled $26 billion, including Progress Energy 's debt. Currently based on Duke Energy 's share price and including Progress Energy 's debt, the transaction is valued at about $32 billion. Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) announced that it has acquired Progress Energy Inc., effective July 2, 2012. The original Duke Engergy includes Duke Energy International, which operates power plants in Central and South America; Duke Energy Renewables, which develops and owns wind and solar projects in the U.S.; and Duke Energy 's Midwest generation and Duke Energy Retail, which generate, market and sell electricity in the Midwest. Now, the new entity has nearly $49 billion in market capitalization, total assets more than $100 billion and 7.1 million electric users in the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The transaction makes Duke Energy the largest U.S. utility and increases its ability to build new
References: Goldman , David. "Google seals $13 billion Motorola buy." 22 2012: n. page. Print. <http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/22/technology/google-motorola/index.htm>. "Google completes $12.5B acquisition of phone maker Motorola Mobility after China clears deal ." 22 2012: n. page. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-completes-motorola-mobility-acquisition-152235759.html>. Finnegan, Jim. "Global mergers and acquisitions activity continues to rise." 24 2011: n. page. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://americancenturyblog.com/2011/05/global-mergers-and-acquisitions-activity-continues-to-rise/>. Zacks, Equity reserach. "Duke Energy Acquires Progress Energy." 05 2012: n. page. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://finance.yahoo.com/news/duke-energy-acquires-progress-energy-184514127.html>.