Greatest Acquisition of All Time

Long time listener, first time caller. Searched through the forums to no avail. What do you consider the greatest acquisition of all time? Can be corporate, government, whatever. A few that come to mind.

  • Google purchasing Youtube in 2005 for $1.65B (Valued at $160B earlier this year - MS)
  • Facebook purchasing Instagram in 2012 for $1B in cash and stock (Valued at $100B earlier this year)
  • The Louisiana Purchase - $15M in 1803

What others come to mind?

Cheers,

Will

 

“When I say I went to Rand University it’s just for all those people with no dog gone degreees, I could have been right there with them” - Randy Moss, Rand U 30 for 30

Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career.
 

I like to think of "Best" as the absolute worst and most horrible. In this regard, it has to be Microsoft's purchase of Nokia for almost $8bn in 2014.

Hot off the heels of watching the Microsoft phone fail while Apple and Android phones succeed, Steve Ballmer, current owner of the LA Clippers and then CEO of Microsoft, had the bright idea to purchase Nokia, who was going through their own mobile phone slump. Together they produced the Lumia line of phones, which never gained any traction.

End result, Ballmer "resigned" from Microsoft and 15,000 Nokia employees were let go in efforts to "streamline" the Company.

 
Most Helpful

I'd say Disney and Google are the best corporate deal-makers. In addition to buying the Star Wars franchise through the acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.05 Billion, Disney also bought Marvel in 2009 for $4 Billion and Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 Billion. I ask you, what would Disney be without those acquisitions? It would have theme parks and Mickey Mouse merchandise, but those acquisitions were business-defining events for the company. This is why Bob Iger gets the benefit of the doubt from most equity analysts when they consider the Fox deal.

For the record, I don't like the Fox deal. It is enormous--10 times the size of the Pixar deal. Sure, it largely completes the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Fox had rights to X-men and Fantastic Four), but deals of this size rarely work well. They're also quite rare, so there isn't a large enough sample to make a meaningful statistical inference. Still, it's a risky move for Disney. They essentially want to own the space of content creation and from there start to own the distribution of their content through their own streaming service ("Disney+"--top work marketing team). The strategy makes sense, but I think you can buy a lot of other content for $70 Billion.

As for Google, while the YouTube acquisition was a huge win, I think the acquisition of Android was an even better buy. Google allegedly bought Android for $50 million in 2005. That was Google's foray into the mobile market. If they hadn't made that acquisition, Google wouldn't be the company it is today. In terms of outright return on investment, the TPG acquisition of MEMC is obviously better, but turnaround situations always have the most potential upside (if you acquire something for a penny and sell it for a positive number, the IRR will be huge). Corporate deal-making is harder than PE deal-making, though, and I like that Android acquisition muy mucho.

 

Sint et assumenda aperiam blanditiis laboriosam esse perferendis. Minima qui nostrum soluta assumenda numquam.

Ipsum velit aut fuga sed excepturi excepturi. Asperiores unde illum corrupti nemo fugit nemo ipsum. Eos a odio recusandae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”