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Mergers and Acquisitions

October 15, 2012 11:46PM
I"ve been at this less than a year, but it seems like MSC's are bought and sold like trading cards. I just signed up for one company, and the next day they announced they were bought out by another company. Then two other recent MSC's both became part of the such and such group. Today I got another email that company X just formed a "strategic alliance" with company Y.

Does this happen often? Is this a good thing? Do you see mergers or acquisitions and say "uh oh"?

Just curious.

AndrewTX
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October 16, 2012 01:09AM
That "Strategic Alliance" is a pile of Horse Droppings. Adding Goodwin to Insula just moves them both to the bottom of the pile...:p

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.
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October 16, 2012 02:27AM
My advice: If they are paying as promised, don't worry about it. From what I've experienced, most companies are interlinked or owned by other companies. They do that for tax reasons. As long as you are getting a check, the name of the company doesn't matter. This can also be advantageous for mystery shoppers. If you have completed a rotating shop for one company and would not be eligible for a few months, why not do the shop for another company>?
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October 16, 2012 03:38AM
M&As are not inherently good or bad for shoppers.

Bad for shoppers: Huge MSC buys small MSC. Huge MSC cuts fees drastically and, unlike small MSC, treats shoppers like commodity. The larger and more powerful Huge MSC gets, the more likely other MSCs try to compete by slashing fees.

Good for shoppers: MSC1 is poorly run and has trouble paying its shoppers. MSC2 acquires MSC1 (for whatever reasons) and pays MSC1's shoppers for shops performed.
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