Mergers, Acquisitions, and the Marriage Metaphor: Time for a (Re)Look?

Abstract

As an object of study, mergers and acquisitions are often characterized as containing two entities that in one way or the other become one. Metaphorically, researchers frequently talk about this relationship in terms of a “marriage.” In this chapter, the authors discuss the marriage metaphor with regard to its adequacy in M&A studies. The authors suggest that the metaphor contains strong normative understandings that to some extent condition how we understand M&As. This chapter highlights three dimensions to problematize the metaphor: sequence of events, number of partners, and power relations in a marriage. For each dimension, the underlying metaphorical belief is discussed and a specific risk is identified. The general message is that M&A research should consider more closely the nature of the relationship between the two (or more) parties of M&A to provide a better understanding of which situations that are actually studied.

Citation

Persson, M. and Frostenson, M. (2021), "Mergers, Acquisitions, and the Marriage Metaphor: Time for a (Re)Look?", Cooper, C.L. and Finkelstein, S. (Ed.) Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions (Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions, Vol. 20), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 53-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-361X20210000020005