Glossary

A merger is a corporate action where two or more companies combine to form a single, larger entity.

This is often done to achieve economies of scale, expand market share, or diversify product offerings. Mergers typically involve companies in the same industry and can be classified as horizontal (similar businesses), vertical (different stages of the same supply chain), or conglomerate (unrelated businesses). 💼

For example, the 2014 merger of two pharmaceutical giants, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, created one of the world's largest drug companies.

Fun fact: One of the largest and most well-known mergers in history was between Exxon and Mobil in 1999, which resulted in the formation of ExxonMobil, currently one of the largest publicly traded oil and gas companies globally. This merger was valued at around $81 billion. 💥