J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

The announced merger of J.P. Morgan and Chase Manhattan in September 2000, which became effective at the end of the year, was one of a series of major combinations in the financial services sector that is ongoing, particularly in the United States, Europe and Japan. This has led to greater concentration in important areas of wholesale and investment banking, as well as the formation of financial conglomerates combining retail and wholesale financial services, asset management and in some cases insurance. Questions arise whether the direction of this consolidation process is ultimately beneficial for the financial system, and whether individual transactions are beneficial for the shareholders involved. This case requires students to focus on the latter question by dissecting the JPMC merger and identifying sources of shareholder value enhancement, as well as the costs and risks imbedded in the transaction.

Mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector are among the most complex. This case requires students to think-through the causes, course and consequences of one of the largest mergers in global banking from the perspective of shareholder value, market share performance and competitive impact. What were the possible sources of value-accretion in this mergers, and what were the sources of value-destruction? What kinds of integration problems is management likely to encounter? Was this a merger or an acquisition?