Overlooked Ethical Questions in Acquisitions and Mergers: A Look at Some Legal, Economic and Philosophical Issues

Practically every article that has ever been written about the economic, legal or ethical aspects of acquisitions and mergers has proceeded to discuss the topic from the viewpoint of the initiators, the predators, to use a pejorative term. Very little has been written about the individuals who try to prevent an acquisition or a merger. Still less has been written about the ethical issues involved in attempting to prevent an acquisition or merger. This article attempts to fill that gap in the literature. The author looks at attempts to prevent consenting adults from entering into an acquisition or merger from both the utilitarian and rights perspectives and concludes that individuals who attempt to prevent consensual activity in the area of acquisitions and mergers engage in unethical conduct, whether viewed from the utilitarian ethical perspective or the perspective of property and contract rights.