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Mergers and Acquisitions

The energy sector was the largest with the most merger and acquisition activity in terms of total value which was disclosed according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (Investopedia, 2011). There were two acquisitions that were particular interesting in this industry. The first was Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. acquisition of Massey Energy for over eight billion dollars. This acquisition is interesting because Massey Energy was the company that owned the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia that experienced an explosion and twenty nine miners were killed. The unfortunate accidents made the operating procedures and lack of safety standards transparent to investors and the stock value plummeted making it a target for Alpha Natural Resources.

Massey Energy was known for a long history of safety violations and other regulatory violations and the FBI actually launch a criminal investigation regarding potential negligence regarding the management of the mine ( Source Watch, 2012). It is unclear how the liability will play out in regards to the civil suites and the acquiring firm. However, it is likely that at least some of the liability for the disaster was passed on during the acquisition. In most cases firms in acquisitions such as this will buy the company's assets only, which shelter them from any further liability. However, this is not always the case and sometimes the liability will transfer as well. Ultimately it will be up to the courts to decide.

Another major acquisition in an entirely different industry in 2011 was Microsoft's acquisition of Skype. The software giant purchased the online telecommunication firm for eight and a half billion dollars (Micorsoft, 2011). This was a strategic acquisition by Microsoft because it will incorporate the Skype system into its portfolio of products that are included in its operating system. For example, Windows 8 will be officially on sale in the upcoming days and there will be a free Skype application that has been modified and optimized for the platform (Wollman, 2012).