Alliances versus acquisitions: choosing the right option
Résumé
Recently, a wave of corporate acquisitions has swept across Europe, prompted by liberalisation and unification in the European Union. The authors ask the question: Has this made the traditional preference by European firms for alliances and co-operative strategies obsolete? Bearing in mind that, in global terms, alliances are popular, another question is: Should European firms use their experiences in alliances to develop new alliance strategies as an alternative to joining the trend to acquisitions? After a review of the European model of alliances, the authors discuss the pros and cons and rationale for horizontal acquisitions and scale alliances, and argue in favour of more aggressive complementary alliances combined with mergers and acquisitions to expand in Europe as well as globally