WORST MERGERS OF THE WORLD

Quaker and Snapple

The success with Gatorade drove grocery store legend Quaker Oats to make another ambition. Quaker acquired Snapple to make Snapple drinks just as popular. This 1994’s acquisition was worth $1.7 billion, which was criticized too much for the fruity drinks. However, after more than two years from the merger, Quaker Oats sold Snapple to Triarc for $300 million and Triarc sold it to Cadbury Schweppes for $1.45 billion in the three following years.

Sprint and Nextel

Announcement of $35 billion merger between Sprint and Nextel to form Sprint Nextel Corporation was made in December 2004. However, customers of both Nextel and Sprint would have to purchase new phone equipment if they wanted convert their accounts to the other side. The new company faced underlying and unexpected problems. The economy started to become worse and it had to compete with other strong rivals likeAT&T, Verizon, and the iPhone. In addition, many Nextel executives and managers stepped down due to two cultures’ clash.

AOL and Time Warner

In 2001, Time Warner and American Online merged together for $111 billion. The merger was considered as a revolutionary move of the old-school media giant and AOL. However, the decline of dial-up Internet access led to the new company’s failure. Time Warner’s stock has fallen 80 percent since the merger.

Prudential/AIA

One that failed to complete, yet still caused major headaches for the putative buyer. In March 2010, UK insurance giant Prudential (LSE: PRU) launched a breath-taking $35.5 billion for AIA, the Asian arm of bailed-out US insurer AIG.
Following regulatory concerns and shareholder revolt, Pru abandoned this deal three months later, having failed to cut the asking price by $5 billion. This left Pru with deal costs nearing £1 billion and CEO Tidjane Thiam with egg all over his face.