Were British Airways And Iberia Forced To Merge?
While the news that British Airways and Iberia were looking to merge was announced earlier this week there is a current train of thought which suggests that the merger was more of a necessity than by choice. Analysts seem to have discounted the short term benefits of the move and moved back to the subject of the airline sector as a whole.
The rumours that they were forced into talks by shareholders would seem to have some credibility when you consider that the announcement of the move was accompanied by an announcement that all major shareholders were in agreement. This opens an interesting debate on shareholder power and the ongoing loss of power from the boardroom.
In the good times it is the directors of any company which plot the way forward and advise shareholders what they think is best, but over the last few months we have seen a change of attitude from the investment market. While the amendment of some rights issue terms from the banking sector set the ball rolling, we have also seen shareholders flexing their muscles in the US with regard to the Yahoo! Microsoft saga. The question now is - "Is this a long term change in attitudes or purely linked to the worldwide economic slowdown?"
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