Understanding a demerger process: The divorce metaphor

Abstract This article contributes to the literature on mergers and acquisitions that hitherto has neglected the demerger of previously merged/acquired firms by offering a process description. To provide structure and deliver insights into such a process, we apply the metaphor of a divorce process and use insights from a case study—namely, the demerger between Ford Motor Company and Volvo Cars Corporation. Our findings suggest that a demerger process of previously merged/acquired firms can be divided into six phases: disillusionment, erosion, detachment, physical separation, mourning, and second adolescence/hard work. The motives for the initial merger or acquisition and the degree of integration are possible factors argued to play a major role in the identified phases during the demerger.

• Publication year

  2020

• Venue

  Scandinavian Journal of Management

• Publication date

  2020-03-01

• Fields of study

  Law, Business

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.scaman.2020.101095
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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