, Columnists
Dow and DuPont Remix Their Cultures
Companies are turning to a build-and-break model to make mega-deals appealing.
This article is for subscribers only.
Mergers and acquisitions used to be simple. Spot a company, line up a debt package and a few regulatory approvals, and wait for the bonus money to roll in.
Nowadays, M&A bankers are behaving more like DJs: Digging through boxes of assets looking for businesses that go well together, discarding the bits they don't want, and remixing entire industries in the hope that new mashups will please investors.