Arla and MD Foods - The Merger Decision

Paper two: Merger Analysis

Based on: Arla and MD Foods- The Merger Decision (A)

The purpose of the paper is to determine whether it makes sense to merge. You will be writing your paper from the perspective of either Arla or MD.

You have been assigned a company. Please check the Blackboard Gradebook for your company.

Your paper must contain the following sections:

Environment analysis using Porter's five forces

Internal analysis to determine each company's resources and capabilities

Merger issues: your paper should delve into issues such as-

• Organization culture

• What drives each company (future goals and assumptions) and what each company is doing (current strategy)

• Compatibility of the two firms

Implementation issues: Discuss issues that would be of concern to you regarding the implementation of the merger.

Conclusion: based on your perspective, you must draw a conclusion regarding whether or not the merger is in your company's best interests. Your decision should be logical based on your analysis.

Hints:

• In the environment analysis and the internal analysis, cover the most important information. (Look at the Porter's Five Forces analysis of Crown Cork and Seal as a model of how to use information effectively.)

• Even though you are taking the perspective of one of the companies, you need to analyze and compare both. Avoid using "we" or "us"-refer to the companies by name. You are not trying to advocate or boast about the company you were assigned. The analysis should be neutral.

• Use business language (no "I"), and use active voice

• Be succinct. Avoid wordy, run-on sentences.