The already legendary
merger of the Gannet chain of newspapers and a television company in 1979, for a little more than 350 million dollars, seems
today a very modest transaction compared with what
took place a few months ago when an unprecedented US 19 billion dollar
merger between Disney Company and the ABC Network was quickly overtaken by an even more massive Times Warner - CNN link - up worth, all told, in excess of US 25 billion dollars.
Today, the firm's international practice is the cumulative result of a staggering 31
mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures — 21 of which have
taken place since 2000.