Case Study Short Essay Examination Questions

question 34

Essay

Case Study Short Essay Examination Questions
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.
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-How does the FTC define market share?

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Definitions:

Network of Networks

A description often used for the internet, highlighting how it interconnects multiple independent networks globally.

Social Commerce

A subset of e-commerce that uses social networks to assist in marketing and purchasing products.

Server

A system or computer that offers programs, services, data, or resources to other computers, referred to as clients, across a network.

Client

In computing, a piece of hardware or software that accesses a service made available by a server.