Mergers suck

The New York Times > Business > Your Money > Gretchen Morgenson: Just Don't Say 'Synergy' to a Hewlett Investor:

By one important measure, the deal has been a flop. The day it closed, Hewlett-Packard's stock stood at $18.22. On Friday, the shares changed hands at $16.50, a loss of 9.4 percent. By comparison, the Standard & Poor's Information Technology index was up 5.2 percent during the same period.

Chief executives love mergers because they result in enormous personal paydays. What's more, the executive charged with running the combined company also gets all the perquisites associated with heading a larger operation.

But merged companies all too often fail to deliver the promised benefits to their shareholders. This is especially so among technology concerns.