The introduction to this survey suggested two basic reasons why banks merge. The first was the hope of increasing shareholder value through economies of scale or scope. The second was to gratify managers who wanted to build an empire, or wanted to avoid being taken over in another bank's empire-building. In the America of the past decade or so bank managers were more than usually free to pursue empire-building ambitions because there was so little certainty where the industry was heading. Claims that they would increase shareholder value were hard for outsiders to dispute.
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