The volume of acquisitions involving privately held firms has far surpassed that of publicly traded firms in recent years; yet this segment of the take-over market remains largely unexplored. In analysing the unique features of private target take-overs, we compare the mergers and acquisitions...

Conrail, nationalised in 1976 and privatised in 1987, was the most significant nationalisation and privatisation by the US government in recent years. It was created from six bankrupt railroads under the pressure of interest groups, formed by customers, existing claimants, employees and related...