Corporate Mergers and Take Overs in India

“When a piece of a log is subjected to severe pressure becomes charcoal. And if it is subjected to extreme pressure results in a diamond. Entrepreneurs are made from men like that”.

Now days, there is too much talk of Indian companies taking over the companies in abroad. The Tata Steel’s take over of Corus has hit the headlines. It was a very bold initiative by Ratan Tata. There was a talk of paying too much price for the acquisition of Corus by the critics. Over all it has demonstrated and displayed the leadership capabilities of Indian business leaders.

Once upon a time when Lord Swaraj Paul made an attempt to take over an Indian company it was treated a hostile bid. It hit national headlines then. Many global MNCs used to take over Indian companies in the past. During the preliberalisation era foreign companies were on the offensive mode to take over Indian companies. In post liberalization, things have changed for better for the Indian industry. The Indian economy has looked up and is becoming a robust economy. As a result, the Indian industry changed its stance from being defensive to offensive.

In this context, let us briefly define what is ‘merger’ and ‘take over’. Merger refers to the process of two business units becoming one. On the other hand, take over refers to the process of taking over of one unit by a relatively stronger business unit. Both merger and take over has many merits such as

• Competitive edge in the market. There is synergy in this and one plus one is three, six or just more than that. The raw material can be purchased in bulk quantity thereby reducing the cost of production. When the cost of the product or service is reduced, the company has better chances to have more profits as well as it can compete with others by slashing down the prices. In a nut shell, there is 'economies of scale' and increased economic efficiency.
• There is increase in market share in the same segment or sector thereby having better brand image and good will for the company.
• Increased benefits to the shareholder value. The benefits so gained are passed on to the shareholders thereby increasing their value.
• There could be tax benefits to the company in few cases.
• Consolidation in the sector wise and it eliminates the unhealthy small time players who are weak and can not survive in the business.
• Many other strategic advantages.

CASE STUDY OF LAXMI NIWAS MITTAL:

There was a hue and cry when Mr. Laxmi Niwas Mittal took over Luxembourg-based Arcelor Steel. Mittal Steel made a daring $ 33 billion offer to take over its rival Arcelor. It was the boldest offer by any NRI to be made. There were lots of practical problems involved in acquisition. The French Govt went to the extent of protecting their company and adopted various techniques to prevent the acquisition.

Mr. Mittal pursued up to the hilt. He allayed the apprehensions of the employees and also that of shareholders of Arcelor and after prolonged battle the company was acquired and the transition has been made smooth. Ultimately he created 100 million tonne steel company. In one situation, the chopper in which LN Mittal was traveling towards Paris was force landed by telling them that the chopper entered the restricted area. The captain of the chopper was so upset that he resigned to avoid such pressures. Then again Arcelor tried to negotiate the deal with a Russian Steel giant Severstal who was one of its competitors in order to checkmate Mittal Steel. It was the toughest job for the Mr.Mittal to get the merger process evened out. Ultimately he succeeded in his bid and has become the President and CEO for Arcelor Mittal.

Now LN Mittal is the only Indian who controls any particular sector i.e. Steel sector in the world. No other Indian in the earth controls any particular sector but it has been made possible only for Mr.Mittal because of his passion and perseverance to become number uno steel czar in the world.

The global scenario has changed drastically especially after the liberalization and privatization in India. The rapid growing technology has made the globe smaller. People began understanding, respecting and adopting the cultures of other countries. At the global level it is essential to focus on multicultural skills. The cultural gap amongst all the countries is getting narrowed down. And there are more efforts and avenues to grasp various cultural diversities across the world. Many companies across the world are coming to India and setting up their shops. It demonstrates the strength of the Indian economy.

In the past we have seen global MNCs and now we are witnessing Indian MNCs shopping across the globe and acquiring number of strategically significant companies. In the past Indian companies fell prey to global predators and now there is a U turn where Indian companies have turned out to be predators.

The Indian economy is bullish with the GDP growing and inflation is within the healthy limits. Indians need not to go overseas to work. Rather they should work with in India itself so as to make Indian economy more vibrant. There are plenty of opportunities with in India itself. The foreign countries are getting more benefits by making use of Indian talent and expertise. What we get in return is far lesser than what we Indians invest in terms of abilities and capabilities to other countries. It is time Indians realized their inherent strengths and stayed in India itself.

India has the highest percentage of young productive population in the world where as the population of China is ageing. Since there is productive population and strong and huge human resources, India is set to become a developed country much before 2020 and will become a Super Power in the world by 2050.

“The dream is not what you see in sleep. Dream is the thing which does not let you sleep”.