Case Name :      Arla and MD Foods–The Merger Decision (A)

Authors :           W. Glenn Rowe, Pankaj Shandilya

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            904M76

Discipline :        Strategy

Case Length :    27 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

The managing director of MD Foods of Denmark and the president of Arla of Sweden, both cooperatives, were contemplating whether their companies should merge to create Europe’s largest dairy company. Both companies wanted to continue the success of their joint ventures with a much closer relationship, but wondered whether their owners (the milk-producing farmers in each country) would approve the merger. The two companies were different in size, organizational structure, organizational culture, monetary currency, and language. A cross-border merger of two cooperatives was unprecedented.