A merger occurs when two or more
firms join together and create a joint
business.
These deals make the
businesses bigger and more
often than not, more
profitable.
An example of a merger is
when Activision and Blizzard
(gaming companies) joined
together in a deal work £9.15
billion.
Shareholders of the original
businesses now become
shareholders in the bigger
business.
Takeover
A takeover is when one
business buys the rights
to another.
A takeover can also be
called an acquisition.
An example of a takeover is when the
shareholders of Reebok sold their shares to
Adidas and they took over and the
shareholders were no longer the owners.
Types of Integration
Horizontal
Integration
This happens when one
firm joins another at the
same stage of the same
production process.
An example of this is
when RBS bought
NatWest.
Vertical
Integration
This occurs when a firm
joins with another at a
different stage of the same
production process.
This can be backward
vertical integration when a
firm joins with its suppliers,
or it can be forward vertical
integration when a firm
joins with its distributors.
An example of forward is when Pepsi bought KFC so
they could sell their drinks there.
Conglomerate
Integration
This occurs when a firm joins
with another in a different
type of production process.
For example, Rentokil businesses include
office cleaning, security, pest control and
parcel delivery, which are all very different.
Advantages and
Disadvantages of
Integration
Advantages
Horizontal can lead to
economies of scale as
more of the same output is
being produced.
Vertical integration can ensure a firm keeps
control of its supplies and distribution, which
can improve quality and reliability and reduce
costs.
Conglomerate integration can
spread risks as a firm is
operating in more than one
market. This means a fall in
demand in one market may be
offset by an increase in
demand in another.
Disadvantages
Diseconomies of scale are
the problems with
controlling, communicating
and motivating staff in a
bigger business.
Culture clashes can occur if the
two businesses that have
merged have different ideas
about different things.
Franchises
Advantages of selling
franchises
The franchise provides most of
the finance to set up the new
business.
The franchisor gets a
fee from franchisees
and a percentage of
their profits.
The franchisee will be
motivated as he gets
most of the profits.
Franchisees can
learn from each
other to make
their businesses
better.
All franchisees can get
together to market the
business which means there is
more money to invest in it.
Disadvantages of selling
franchises
The original
entrepreneur
no longer
owns all of
the business.
If there is a problem
with one franchise,
then it can damage
all the other
franchises because
brand image will be
damaged.