What Happens when Companies Merge?

When one company wants to merge or join forces with another, what exactly does that mean? And when mergers happen for publicly traded companies, what happens to their stocks? A lot happens when a merger or acquisition occurs, including some employees getting let go, certain divisions being made redundant, or even grander restructuring of business assets.

Mergers of companies can be uncertain events, but generally they end up being beneficial for the resulting single company.

So why would a merger happen?

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