According the reports, the Louisiana State University Board approved a consolidation or merger of the LSU Agriculture Center and LSU Agriculture College. The LSU President stated that the negotiations and plan to merge the two had been going on for awhile. Prior to this deal, the Center and College were two separate entities for nearly forty years. Under the current merger, the Center and the College will be consolidated such that both will be under one administration.
The Agriculture Center Chancellor noted that this merger will help them invest their resources, which are presently limited or scarce, in a more efficient manner. Further, they will be able to provide better services to their students. The Chancellor noted that even though mergers in general are not popular in Louisiana due to the potential for job losses, in this case no jobs cuts will take place. Further, the faculty of the Center endorsed the merger as long as they are involved in the both the current and future deliberations.
The Chancellor also noted that in the last five years the Center lost nearly a quarter of its budget. Under this current tight budget, the merger of the Agriculture Center and College was a good step not only for the agriculture sector but also the State of Louisiana.
In order to stay competitive and better serve its customers, a business or institution may periodically have to examine its current structure to determine if its processes and activities can be streamlined. Pros and cons of merging must be closely evaluated. Negotiations surrounding such decision making can get complex. Thus, it is important to have an experienced business law firm familiar with mergers help a business or institution navigate through the process.
Source: WAFB, “Historic merger gets approval at LSU,” Jim Shannon, Sept. 6, 2013
