Big Deal: Mergers and Acquisitions in the Digital Age

Chrysler-Daimler..Travelers-Saloman-Citicorp.NYNEX- Bell Atlantic..Ten years ago even the most visionary WALL Streeter could not have predicted the megamergers of the late 1990s. Analyzing the forces that made these mergers not only possible but inevitable, Wasserstein, executive chairman of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, now presents a fascinating, colourful overview of the history of corporate mergers and buyouts from the roaring '20s to the current era. A veteran of over 1000 corporate deals and a man who knows today's biggest players personally, Wasserstein moves from the historical to the human dramas behind the headlines. He asks, and answers, the important questions that every financial watcher - and investor - needs to know. Are companies overpaying for their corporate acquisitions? What's the impact of the rise in Internet stock prices and the boom in IPO's? And, in assessing the big picture, Wasserstein makes a persuasive argument that the explosion of corporate alliances will have an effect as dramatic as the industrial revolution.