TYPES OF MERGERS


Mergers can be categorized as follows:

Horizontal: Two firms are merged across similar products or services. Horizontal mergers are often used as a way for a company to increase its market share by merging with a competing company. For example, the merger between Total and ELF will allow both companies a larger share of the oil and gas market.

Vertical: Two firms are merged along the value-chain, such as a manufacturer merging with a supplier. Vertical mergers are often used as a way to gain a competitive advantage within the marketplace. For example, a large manufacturer of pharmaceuticals, may merge with a large distributor of pharmaceuticals, in order to gain an advantage in distributing its products.

Conglomerate: Two firms in completely different industries merge, such as a gas pipeline company merging with a high technology company. Conglomerates are usually used as a way to smooth out wide fluctuations in earnings and provide more consistency in long-term growth. Typically, companies in mature industries with poor prospects for growth will seek to diversify their businesses through mergers and acquisitions.