The regulatory and compliance difficulties that accompany a single merger are challenging enough. Now imagine the hurdles that arise when acquiring hundreds of companies in the course of just a few years.
Add in the regulatory scrutiny that comes in the wake of a massive accounting scandal, and you have the mess that Tyco International faced a few years ago. Under former CEO Dennis Kozlowski, Tyco had adopted an aggressive acquisition strategy, buying more than 800 companies from 1999 to 2002. Years later, the company still had a hodgepodge of Environmental, Health & Safety programs and no room for error. To ...