Acquisition of Carrefour-Portugal by Sonae Distribuição

• Author(s): Gonçalves, Raquel Filipa de Jesus
• Date: 2009
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/9640
• Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
• Subject(s): Strategic management; Mergers and acquisitions; Synergies; Integration
• Document Type: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Advisor(s): Costa, Luís Almeida

Description

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics This study centers on the subject of mergers and acquisitions by describing and analyzing the case-study of the acquisition of Carrefour Portugal by Sonae Distribuição. The main objectives of this study are to identify the reasons underlying the decision, to examine how the acquisition fits Sonae Distribuição’s strategy, and to analyze how the integration process is conducted and affects the value created by the acquisition. This case study clarifies that growth through value creation was the main reason behind Sonae’s decision of acquiring Carrefour-Portugal. The acquisition would allow Sonae to reinforce its position as number one in the Portuguese retail market and enlarge its market coverage. Moreover, the acquisition would boost the organic growth of the different business formats of the company. Economies of scale and scope, dimension gains and combination of complementary resources, namely creating stronger product and store portfolios and integrating competences that neither one could achieve alone, are the main potential synergies identified that enabled Sonae to achieve its objectives. The analysis demonstrates that the value created by this deal derives from the strategic fit of the acquisition, considering the strategic pillars of Sonae Distribuição, creating a unique resource complementarity. On the other hand, a successful post-acquisition integration process was conducted. The main aspects identified for this successful process were the effective communication with every stakeholder, the cooperative environment established between the companies from the beginning, and the celerity of the process. Critical aspects such as familiarity with the sector and culture similarity were favorable to the deal, representing a remarkable fit. The complete integration within a single company allowed for the realization of the main synergies that motivated the deal, despite the adverse economic conjuncture.