Corporate synergy

Corporate synergy is a financial benefit that a corporation expects to realize when it merges with or acquires another corporation. Corporate synergy occurs when corporations interact congruently with one another, creating additional value.

Synergies are divided into two groups: operational (revenue enhancement and cost reduction) and financial (decrease in cost of capital, tax benefits). Seeking for synergies is a nearly ubiquitous feature and motivation of corporate mergers and acquisitions and is an important negotiating point between the buyer and seller that impacts the final price both parties agree to; see Mergers and acquisitions § Business valuation. The synergy value should not be confused with the control premium; these metrics should be calculated separately.

Positive synergies arise when the combined corporation will bring about better results than the two independent corporations, as in the saying "the whole is better than the sum of the parts". If the corporations do not do due diligence, negative synergies may arise, in which the corporations would have been better off existing on their own.^{[citation needed]}