As this paper concludes, I suggest additional research to be carried out in connection with how to achieve post-acquisition success on a strategic level. The case of Royal Unibrew in Italy has been interesting, as Royal Unibrew’s venture into a considerably different market has caused the need for strategic reconsideration. However, this paper’s strategic suggestion is far from the definitive strategy, as I believe success can be achieved in a wide variety of ways. The delimitations introduced earlier in the thesis may have obscured certain perspectives, which may alter the conclusion; as such, it is worth considering additional tools and frameworks in the search for an optimized strategy.
Furthermore, additional research carried out in relation to Royal Unibrew’s other acquisitions, could explore additional synergetic effects, which vastly change the perception of what is the optimal strategic moves for Royal Unibrew.
Likewise, I suggest that other researches continues the study of post-acquisition success in other cases besides Royal Unibrew. The strategy suggested in this thesis has been tailored to fit the internal situation and the external business environment of Royal Unibrew and Terme di Crodo in Italy, and should not be seen as a generic fit-all strategy for other post-acquisition settings.
M&A is a common method of growth in the beverage industries, so I am convinced that Royal Unibrew is not a stand-alone example that could benefit from this kind of analysis. Previously, other students have conducted research in regards to where Royal Unibrew should consider going next (Jensen & Amby, 2014) or how their strategy influences the value of the firm (Hoffland, 2013). Such analyzes contribute to the understanding of Royal Unibrew’s strategy, however, it should be worth revisiting these studies as Royal Unibrew’s situation has changed significantly since then, especially in regards to their presence in Southern Europe. I highly encourage further research to be conducted on this topic.
Finally, as an external researchers, it is audacious to claim that my strategic suggestion is superior to the strategy developed by the people who have all the insider knowledge (the management of Royal Unibrew) especially when the firm has been performing so tremendously in regards to financial results recently. However, I believe I must stick to my interpretation of the analysis-outcome and base my suggestions upon the information available to me.
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