Mergers and merger policy / edited by James A. Fairburn and John Kay.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Fairburn, James A.

Kay, J. A. (John Anderson)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consolidation and merger of corporations--Great Britain.

Consolidation and merger of corporations.

Consolidation and merger of corporations--Government policy.

Great Britain.

Consolidation and merger of corporations--Government policy--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

x, 356 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1989.

Summary:

A series of huge and bitterly contested takeover bids has recently focused public attention on the merger phenomenon. At the same time British merger policy, which has for long lacked clarity and bite, has been the subject of government review.

This book is a collection of essays by leading policy-makers and academics and confronts the most important questions in the field. Does the merger process serve as a crucial check on management efficiency, or is it the result of too little control or too much management discretion? Do shareholders and consumers gain or lose from mergers? Is the effect of mergers on competition the only public concern, and how anyway is competition to be assessed in an economy increasingly dominated by foreign imports? Can policy-makers learn from abroad, or are the current institutions and procedures the best available? The contributions to this volume show how such questions can be answered.

Contents:

1. The Impact of Merger: A Survey of Empirical Evidence for the UK / Alan Hughes 30

2. Take-over Activity in the United Kingdom / Mervyn King 99

3. The Market for Corporate Control: The Divestment Option / Mike Wright, Brian Chiplin, John Coyne 116

4. Mergers, Take-overs, and the Enforcement of Profit Maximization / Dieter Helm 133

5. Shareholder Wealth Effects of UK Take-overs: Implications for Merger Policy / Julian Franks, Robert Harris 148

6. The Empirical Analysis of Market Structure and Performance / James Fairburn, Paul Geroski 175

7. The Evolution of Merger Policy in Britain / James Fairburn 193

8. Merger Policy in the US / George Hay, Rod Nydam 231

9. Merger Policy: Current Policy Concerns / Sir Gordon Borrie 246

10. Merger Policy: Certainty or Lottery? / John Swift, QC 264

11. Do we Need a Merger Policy? / Kenneth George 281

12. Myths and Merger Policy / Stephen Littlechild 301

Appendix The Commission's Merger Reports 322.

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: pages [326]-350.

ISBN:

0198772858 :

019877284X

OCLC:

18050586