The Exxon - Mobil Merger Controversy

Moreover, they had to enter into new supply contracts and change their marketing strategies and sales targets. The National Coalition of Petroleum Retailers (NCPR), an advocacy group representing small gasoline retailers released a statement saying, "While we recognize that this merger is driven by the need of the companies to make their upstream activities, specifically exploration and production operations, more efficient, we see the potential for adverse effects on marketing operations, which ultimately have the greatest effect on the American motorist. We are most concerned with the fact that we are losing our third major supplier at the wholesale level, with the impact potentially greatest in major markets such as New Jersey, New York, and Texas...

The net income during the same period had increased to $21,510 mn from $7,910 mn in the fiscal 1999 (Refer Exhibit V). The total assets of the company during the fiscal period 1999-2003 had increased from $144,521 mn to $174,278 mn, an increase of 20.6% (Refer Exhibit VI). In April 2004, ExxonMobil's share price was quoted around $44 (Refer Exhibit VII). Though the company claimed that the improved financial performance was the direst result of the synergies reaped from the merger, a few analysts felt that it was mainly because of a significant increase in oil prices (Refer Table II). During the past five years, ExxonMobil had reported a cumulative net income of $73.92 bn. According to the company sources, ExxonMobil had generated over $120 bn in cash since the merger was completed...