Corporate Finance-Mergers and acquisitions Essay

Corporate Finance-Mergers and acquisitions - Essay Example Generally, mergers are brought about in a consensual and cordial environment where the target company helps the purchaser in a 'due diligence' process to ensure that the deal is beneficial to both parties. But acquisitions are sometimes "hostile", in that the acquiring company purchases in the open market a majority of outstanding shares of the target company against the wishes of the target company's board of directors. 'Mergers and acquisitions should be value creating for the shareholders of both the 'offeror' and the 'offeree' companies'. Value creation is also necessary for further growth. Creating value implies earning a return on invested capital in excess of the cost of capital over time; or earning a strictly positive profit, that is where revenue minus all expenses is greater than zero. Value creators do not have to worry about a capital shortage. They are either flush with internal funds to meet their investment needs, or can attract the needed capital from the markets, which are always in search of profitable investment opportunities. And such companies will also create over time a cadre of managers who have higher standards and better capabilities than the competition. Many companiCurrent state of M&A Many companies have had recourse to M&A as a sure path to fast growth. Operational synergy and economies of scale are the strengths of M&A propelling growth. But the failure of many M&A in the 1990s has actually reduced shareholder value instead of increasing it and as a consequence, both management and investors are now taking a closer look at what makes a merger or acquisition a success or a failure. (K@W, 2003). But there have been some exceptions and one exception has been the recent acquisition of Arcelor by Mittal. The Acquisition of Arcelor by Mittal The rise of Mittal Steel has been a story of growth and expansion through acquisitions, beginning with that of the Iron and Steel Company of Trinidad and Tobago in 1989 and culminating in 2006 in the acquisition of Arcelor, Europe's largest steel producer. Mittal has grown by buying struggling steel plants around the world and knitting them into the world's biggest steel company. It has a strong presence in North America and Europe, but in Asia its operation is confined to Kazakhstan. It is the world's largest and most global steel company, with shipments of 49.2 million tons and revenues of over $28.1 billion in 2005, owning steel-making facilities in 16 countries and employing over 224,000 people. The shares of the company are listed on the New York and Amsterdam stock exchanges. The company produces a broad range of products for the flat and long products markets and has among its customers well known names in the automotive, engineering and appliance sectors. (http://www.mittals teel.com/company/Profile.htm) Mittal Steel announced its intention to acquire Arcelor on 27 January 2006, for a total of 24 billion euros. Arcelor had been created in 2002 by the merger of Aceralia, Arbed and Usinor, with an intention of mobilizing their technical, industrial, and commercial synergies in a joint

Lyme Disease and How the Immune System Responds Research Paper

Lyme Disease and How the Immune System Responds - Research Paper Example Early symptoms are then further divided into localized which usually include a characteristic circular rash, fever, malaise and flu like symptoms. The symptoms of early disseminated infection are mainly due to the spread of the bacteria in the blood stream in two to three days after the initial infection and include dizziness, migrating pain in the muscles, palpitations, neuroborreliosis and infections of the lymph nodes. The disease could also lead to many cardiac anomalies like atrioventricular block. The disease if not treated properly or left untreated could lead to its persistent chronic form. The major parts of the body that are usually affected by this late, chronic form of the disease are eyes, brain and heart. Extreme cases of the disease may also lead to paraplegias. Pathogenesis The pathogenic organism is present in the saliva of the ticks and transferred to the blood stream while the ticks are feeding on the human blood. The tick’s saliva protects the organism and allows it to invade the dermis while avoiding the initial protective system of the human body. After invasion, an inflammatory response develops against the organism which is usually is the cause of its characteristics initial lesions. Neutorphils however fail to invade the site of infection, enabling the bacteria to survive linger at the site of infection. ... RESPONSE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM Innate Immunity Innate immune response is usually the body’s first and immediate response to any foreign antigen; in this case the bacteria (Borrelia). The cells usually involved in providing the innate immunity are called as the natural killer cells which include neutrophils, dendritic cells, monocytes and granulocytes. However in Lyme’s disease neutrophils usually fail to invade the site of infection which allows the organism to survive for a longer duration. In the absence of neutorphills, the dendritic cells acquire a primary role of killing the pathogen. The dendritic cells engulf the bacteria by the process of phagocytosis. After the bacterium is phagocytosed, it is either killed by lysosomal enzymes or by the production of toxic substances e.g. Nitric Oxide, that degrade bacterial cell membrane leading to its death (Dietrich and Hartung 2001). Dendritic cells having acquired this primary role of killing the cells perform many other f unctions too in the early manifestation of the infection. The dendritic cells cause the release of several mediators e.g. IL8, 12 and 1 as well as TNF alpha. All these mediators released by dendritic cells play an important role in the early defenses against the disease as well as development of the acquired immunity. Complement system Apart from the innate response that is directly involved in the killing of foreign pathogens, one important aspect of immunity against borrelia infection is the activation of the complement system. The complement system is a complex of 20 proteins which are activated by the antigen antibody complexes. Functions of the complement system involves: activation of specific immune mechanisms e.g. release of certain chemical mediators, direct