PathFinder

Mergers and
Acquisitions
Contents
Introduction
Search Terms and Call Numbers
Books
Databases
Websites

Introduction
Mergers refer to deals where two or more companies take almost equal stakes in each other’s
businesses, whereas an acquisition is the straightforward purchase of a “target” company. These
activities are commonly called Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As) collectively.

Mergers and acquisitions trigger large-scale changes that often cause chain reactions within a
business sector as companies combine in the race to gain competitive advantage. Merger activities
throughout history have been related to long-term forces of change such as technological advances
and improvements in communications and transportation.

The APEC Report, "Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions: Case Studies of Korea, China and Hong
Kong, China" notes that in the global economy, cross-border mergers and acquisitions have become
more important than Greenfield investment in entering foreign economies, M&As currently account for
over 80 percent of foreign direct investment by multinational corporations.

In the Asia-Pacific region, KPMG reports a slowdown of the M&A activities by 33 percent from the first
half of 2002 to 7,324 for the first half of 2003. Some reasons given for the economic uncertainties
were the war in Iraq, SARS and a significant reduction in announcing financially insecure deals.

Australia, Indonesia and South Korea have produced Asia's biggest M&A deals. According to market
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data provider Dealogic. Australia accounts for four of the 10 biggest mergers, and South Korea for
two. China has just one transaction in the top 10. In Singapore, M&A activities leapfrogged by 88
percent in 2004, or US$21.6 billion (S$35.55 billion) over the previous year. This is attributed to
Singapore’s prime status as a financial hub as well as signs of economic recovery in the region.

This PathFinder serves as a guide to help you locate resources on mergers and acquisitions available
at National Library Board libraries as well as on the Internet.

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Search Terms and Call Numbers

For library materials, a corresponding call number is given for every search term. These call numbers
are assigned based on the Dewey Decimal Classification system, which the Library uses to
categorise and shelf its books. You can use the search terms and call numbers listed below to locate
related materials on our catalogue. The catalogue is available at all libraries and on the NLB Digital
Library (http://www.nlb.gov.sg).

Search Terms Call Numbers

Consolidation and Merger of Corporations 338.83
Consolidation and Merger of Corporations. 338.83095
Korea, South. Case Studies.
Consolidation and Merger of Corporations. 346.59570662
Laws and Legislation. Singapore
Sale of Small Business 658.16

Books
To help you begin your research on this topic, here are some recommended works that are available
at NLB libraries. For contact details and locations of the libraries, please visit http://www.nlb.gov.sg.

Title: Takeovers, restructuring and corporate governance

Authors: Weston, J. F., Mitchell, M. L. and Mulherin, J. H.
Publisher: Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004
Call number: RBUS 338.830973 WES
Description: Explains the role of the M&As and its arbitrage activities and shows how one
can improve their success rate in the business. Includes 136 case studies
and company examples have been added for analysis.

Title: Ultimate guide to buying or selling a business

Author: Nottonson, I.
Publisher Irvine, CA: Entrepreneur Press, 2005
Call number: RBUS 658.16 NOT
Description: Provides an overview of the buying/selling business while identifying the
concerns of all parties: buyer, seller, accountant, lawyer, broker and lender
to arrive at a successful negotiation. Forms, sample contracts and
worksheets are included to offer clear explanations that clarify business
transfer concepts.
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Title: Successful mergers : Getting the people issues right

Author: Devine, M.
Publisher: London: Economist in association with Profile, 2002
Call number: RBUS 658.16 DEV
Description: States that companies give too much attention to facts and figures,
objectives and targets and not enough attention to employees during an
organisational upheaval. Explains strategies to ease the “difficult, disruptive

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and unpredictable” period for employees.

Title: Singapore code on takeovers and mergers : A comparative analysis

Author: Rajah & Tann
Publisher: Singapore: CCH Asia, 2002
Call number: RSING 346.59570662
Description: Offers practical coverage on the principles and rules of the Revised
Singapore Code on Take-overs and Mergers, which came into effect on 1
January 2002. Also traces the changes to each section of the Code and
explains the intent behind it.

Title: Cross-border mergers & acquisitions : Case studies of Korea, China

and Hong Kong, China
Author: Moon, H. C., Kim, H. K. and Lee, D. H.
Publisher: Singapore: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, 2003
Call number: RSING 338.83095 MOO
Description: This report explores the impact of the cross-border M&As on host
economies of Korea, China and Hong Kong, China and also across the
APEC Region. It concludes that cross-border mergers and acquisitions offer
more benefits than costs to the host economy.

Title: Cases in corporate acquisitions, buyouts, mergers & takeovers

Publisher: Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 1999
Call number: RBUS 338.83 CAS
Description: A collection of case studies on 293 “high profile” corporate acquisitions,
buyouts, mergers, and takeovers from 1868 to early 2000. Entries are
arranged alphabetically by corporations. This is useful for students doing in-
depth research projects on companies undergoing changes.

Databases
Global Insight: World Markets Research Centre (WMRC)
Global Insight’s Country Analysis spans 202 countries and includes Same-day Analysis, Country
Reports, Special Reports, In-Focus, Global Data from IMF, Country Risk Rating, Sovereign Risk
Ratings, 7-year Historical Economic Data and Current-Year Economic Forecast Data on 43 set of data
variables. Available at all libraries.

A sample report:
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Title: Mergers & Acquisitions: Purchases, Australia

Description: Provides statistics of purchases concluded in Australia between 1999 to
2003. Also features 285 countries all over the world with projection figures up
to 2015.

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Factiva
Access full-text articles from the archives of over 9000 news and information sources, including The
Straits Times, Business Times, New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Available at all libraries.

Keywords: mergers and acquisitions, takeovers

Title: Asia becoming hotbed for mega-deals

Author: Asmani, A.
Date: 2005, April 11
Source: The Straits Times
Description: Reports that Asia is fast becoming a hot-bed for multimillion-dollar merger
and acquisition deals. Singapore, with its financial hub status, is in a prime
position to capitalise on the booming industry.

Title: Merger deals here nearly double

Author: Poon, A.
Date: 2004, December 12
Source: The Straits Times
Description: A Thomson Financial Survey reports that Singapore’s M&A activity leapt
ahead by 88 percent over last year and that Singapore operations boosted
headcount to 700 this year through graduate recruitment and other hiring
channels.

Title: 2 Singapore law firms in key M&A deals

Author: Lee, S. S.
Date: 2004, July 9
Source: The Straits Times
Description: Reports that two Singapore Law firms, Allen & Gledhill and Wong
Partnership were involved in advising merger and acquisition deals, worth
US$4 billion, in Asia.

ProQuest 5000 International

ProQuest is a database of journal, magazine and newspaper articles. Subject coverage includes
Business, Accounting, Applied Science and Technology, Banking, Health, Science, Computing,
Education, Pharmaceuticals, Medicine, Religion and Social Science. Available at all libraries.

Keywords: mergers and acquisitions, takeovers

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Title: China isn't only game in Asia; Profusion of big deals is testament to
rest of region's vitality
Author: Linebaugh, K.
Date: 2005, May 12
Source: Wall Street Journal
Description: Reports that Chinese computer maker, Lenovo Group Ltd. purchased
International Business Machines Corp.'s (IBM) personal-computer business
late last year at US$1.25 billion.

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Title: ProLogis to buy rival for $3.6 billion

Authors: Berman, D. K. and Smith, R. A.
Date: 2005, June 6
Source: Wall Street Journal
Description: ProLogis, who owns and manages 2,000 industrial distribution centres in 75
markets throughout the world, buys fellow real-estate investment trust,
Catellus Development Corp. As a cash and stock deal estimated at US$3.6
billion, it will create the nation’s largest REIT focused on warehouse and
distribution properties.

Websites
The following websites contain useful information on this topic. Last accessed on 23 June 2005.

Title: MergerNetwork.com
URL: http://www.mergernetwork.com/index.cfm
Description: This database contains over 11,000 listings covering a variety of industries,
locations and sales levels. It offers search solutions for buyers that are also
useful to small and large companies, private equity groups, business brokers,
investment bankers, and individual buyers throughout the world. Free basic
membership registration is available.

Title: MergerStat
URL: http://www.mergerstat.com/new/indexnew.asp
Description: Focuses on providing information on global mergers and acquisitions
information to the corporate financial market through various databases such
as LexisNexis, FactSet, Alacra and Hoovers. Valuation, trend analysis and
research services on companies are also available after registration.

Title: World Capital Market

URL: http://www.worldcapitalmarket.com/
Description: Provides assistance to those interested in expanding to Asia or USA in cross-
border RTO & IPO transactions, international project financing, M&A and
other initiatives.

Title: International Mergers and Acquisitions

URL: http://www.ima-world.com/
Description: An international affiliation of professionals dedicated to providing a variety of
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corporate services to private and public companies worldwide. Supports

clients through hotlines, Web sessions and name and logo protection.

Title: Ministry of Manpower (Singapore), Case study on the role of HR in

mergers and acquisitions
URL: http://www.mom.gov.sg/MOM/LRD/Publications/1857_MandARevised
.pdf
Description: Highlights the importance of HR's involvement during the pre- to the post-
merger/acquisition phases and provides an account of the role of HR in the

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integration process which brings about better business synergy and

competitive advantage. The case study features the experiences of five
companies: Ascendas Pte Ltd, Neptune Orient Lines, Keppel TatLee Bank
Ltd, Raffles International Ltd and Singapore Exchange Ltd.

Title: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Guide to mergers and acquisitions in

Asia
URL: http://www.altassets.com/pdfs/asia.pdf
Description: After a sharp decline in 2002 and into the first half of 2003, M&A activities
across the region is now on the rise especially in China, Hong Kong and
Japan. This guide provides practical information on the legal framework for
M&A in 10 Asian countries.

Title: Lovells, Bank mergers and restructuring in Asia

URL: http://www.prac.org/newsletters/Restructuring.pdf
Description: There has been a spate of mergers, acquisitions and major investments over
the past four to five years in Asia. This paper looks at the reasons for the
increase in bank mergers, the key issues for consideration and bank
recapitalisations in the wake of Asian financial crisis and the slowdown in
exports sure to recessions affecting many of the major economies worldwide.

Title: Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore), Report of the

Entrepreneurship and Internalisation Subcommittee, Economic Review
Committee
URL: http://www.mti.gov.sg/public/PDF/CMT/ERC_EISC_FinalReport2.pdf?sid
=121&cid=1257
Description: This report highlights the Economic Review Committee’s recommendations to
strengthen the spirit of entrepreneurship in Singapore as well as to foster
growth and internalisation of Singapore-based companies, including
government-linked companies beyond the shores.
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By Ambika Raghavan, Lee Kong Chian Reference Library

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