The Break-Up of Business Mergers

Bangalore: The world of relationships is a volatile one. Be it a romantic liaison or a business venture, nobody can be sure which union is going to last and which one will end with bitterness and loss. The corporate world has seen numerous mergers or marriages over the time. Not all of them had happy endings. We bring you some of the worst mergers in the history of the business world.

Sprint and Nextel

In 2005, the most important communication merger took place between Sprint and Nextel Communications. These two companies assumed that merging opposite ends of a market’s range, personal cell phones and home service from Sprint, and business, infrastructure, transportation market from Nextel, would generate a large communication family for  $35 billion. But things didn’t work according to the plan. Shortly after the merger, Nextel executives and managers left the new company in horde, claiming that the two cultures could not get along. And to add on to that, the economy took a turn for the worse and the expectation bar from the providers was increased. Rigorous competition from the iPhone, Verizon and AT&T drove down sales, and Sprint-Nextel began lay-offs. Its stocks tumbled, and for all those involved, the merger clearly failed.