New-style mergers marry two cultures

In the last wave of insurance mergers and acquisitions (M&As), it was common for conglomerates to acquire insurance firms in order to leverage their balance sheets and bolster the buyer's bottom line. Today, M&As between insurers are more common. Such new-style mergers and alliances are...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Best's review (Life-health insurance ed.) 1996-12, Vol.97 (8), p.63
Main Author: Simson, Walter A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquisitions & mergers
Industrywide conditions
Insurance companies
Insurance industry
Life insurance
Market penetration
Negotiations
Product lines
Teams
Trends
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the last wave of insurance mergers and acquisitions (M&As), it was common for conglomerates to acquire insurance firms in order to leverage their balance sheets and bolster the buyer's bottom line. Today, M&As between insurers are more common. Such new-style mergers and alliances are driven by the need for more focused and efficient operating units and to broaden product lines or market penetration. This new approach to combining companies goes far beyond selecting merger partners for financial benefits. Early emphasis is on understanding how much integration of operations or consistency of policies and procedures is needed. The most successful mergers incorporate a careful, step-by-step process. It begins even before a deal is struck and must be carefully understood by both parties if the merger is to work. This rational process enables them to work through the miscommunications, jumbled conversations, compressed time frames and conflicting agendas that are almost inevitable in a complex transaction.
ISSN:0005-9706