I too have been a party and witness to a number of acquisitions and seen failure and success. In my humble opinion, a lot depends on the context of the industry, the acquirer and the company being acquired. There are two large issues,…making the right growth decisions for the company, and whatever the decision, executing the strategy( acquisition or other “organic growth” options….) well.
I have seen situations where the “objective” analysis leading to a decision to acquire, became less objective as less important factors influenced a decision inordinately, …leading to an ultimate decision to acquire which was sub-optimal( or built unintended risk into its execution). The key issue, often ignored in the post mortems, is what was the alternative growth strategy,…was it properly assessed, resourced, risk analyzed. Too often, the decision-makers get influenced inordinately, in the eleventh hour, by those who have an interest in provoking a transaction, but have less knowledge, sensitivity and understanding of the execution issues, some of which you identify. Regardless of the decision, a properly resourced( and with enough authority to do the tough parts of any growth initiative) executed plan, can rescue even a suboptimal acquisition( or alternative growth) plan. Some of the companies you mention consciously limited risk in both the rigor of their decision making processes, and in properly leading and resourcing their executing teams.

I today see many segments where consolidation and rollup makes sense, but few occasions where decision making and execution is being optimally accomplished.

cheers,

Scott Perry