Exxon and Mobil Merger—The Market Share Conundrum

question 5

Essay

Exxon and Mobil Merger—The Market Share Conundrum

Following a review of the proposed $81 billion merger in late 1998, the FTC decided to challenge the Exxon–Mobil transaction on anticompetitive grounds. Options available to Exxon and Mobil were to challenge the FTC’s rulings in court, negotiate a settlement, or withdraw the merger plans. Before the merger, Exxon was the largest oil producer in the United States and Mobil was the next largest firm. The combined companies would create the world’s biggest oil company in terms of revenues. Top executives from Exxon Corporation and Mobil Corporation argued that they needed to implement their proposed merger because of the increasingly competitive world oil market. Falling oil prices during much of the late 1990s put a squeeze on oil industry profits. Moreover, giant state-owned oil companies are posing a competitive threat because of their access to huge amounts of capital. To offset these factors, Exxon and Mobil argued that they had to combine to achieve substantial cost savings.

After a year-long review, antitrust officials at the FTC approved the Exxon–Mobil merger after the companies agreed to the largest divestiture in the history of the FTC. The divestiture involved the sale of 15% of their service station network, amounting to 2400 stations. This included about 1220 Mobil stations from Virginia to New Jersey and about 300 in Texas. In addition, about 520 Exxon stations from New York to Maine and about 360 in California were divested. Exxon also agreed to the divestiture of an Exxon refinery in Benecia, California. In entering into the consent decree, the FTC noted that there is considerably greater competition worldwide. This is particularly true in the market for exploration of new reserves. The greatest threat to competition seems to be in the refining and distribution of gasoline.
-Why are the Exxon and Mobil executives emphasizing efficiencies as a justification for this merger?

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Definitions:

SEM

SEM, or Standard Error of the Mean, quantifies the amount of variability in the mean of a sample distribution compared to the true population mean.

Factor Analysis

A statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated variables in terms of potentially lower number of unobserved variables, called factors.

Gender Differences

Refers to the distinctions in characteristics, behaviours, physical or psychological traits typically associated with males and females.

Statistical Tool

Software or methods used for the analysis, interpretation, and visualization of statistical data.