Business Case Studies & Business Publications

PSINet: Building an Internet Super Carri...

Bourgeois, L. J. I...

Case

PSINet: Building an Internet Super Carrier (A)

Bourgeois, L. J. III; Cording, Margaret; Moscoso, Ana

BP-0433 | Published March 23, 2001 | 28 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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PSI Net, one of the world's leading internet companies, is contemplating the acquisition of Metamor Worldwide, an IT consulting firm of equal size. PSI has grown at breakneck speed via 71 acquisitions in three years, mostly through the acquisition of small ISPs. Post-merger integration was mostly a matter of hooking up to existing networks and customer bases. By contrast, Metamor is a "human capital" firm, itself the product of many acquisitions. The purpose of the case is (1) to illustrate the evolution of corporate strategy (via M&A) in a high velocity environment and (2) to address issues of merging with a same-size firm that is totally different from previous acquisitions. Students are asked to prepare their due diligence for the acquisition. PSI Net (B) provides the story of the one-year follow-on disaster.