Internet Exercises

1. Going Public

Instructions

As discussed in the textbook, private corporations may choose to "go public" in order to obtain financing to expand or take advantage of opportunities. Visit the following U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Web site to learn more about raising capital and complying with federal securities laws.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission http://www.sec.gov/smbus/qasbsec.htm

Use the Web site to answer the following questions:

1. Describe the two primary sets of federal laws that are important when a company wants to offer and sell securities to the public.

2. Discuss the primary advantages of "going public."

3. If being a public company is so good, why wouldn't all companies want to "go public?"

4. If a small business does not want to "go public," are there other opportunities to obtain financing to expand or take advantage of opportunities? Explain

2. Mergers

Instructions

Visit the Web site of your favorite newspaper, magazine, or research vehicle to find one recent example of each of the following: horizontal merger, vertical merger, and conglomerate merger. These examples may be either recently completed or pending mergers. Answer the following questions after finding the examples.

1. List the three examples and briefly describe the terms of the merger and why you placed them into each category.

2. For each example, provide a brief description of why the firms merged or are trying to merge.

3. For each example, what were or will be the impacts on the number of jobs in either company following the merger?

4. Don't have a favorite site? Try Business Week http://www.businessweek.com/, Fortune http://www.fortune.com/, Forbeshttp://www.forbes.com/, New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/, Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/, Wired http://www.wired.com/, Business 2.0 http://www.business2.com/.