ACQUISITION AS A PHASE IN INTERNATIONALISATION - THE END OF THE ROAD OR A NEW BEGINNING?

This paper traces the latest stage in the internationalisation of James N. Kirby Ltd (now Heatcraft Australia Pty. Ltd.), a medium-sized family owned Australian manufacturing firm established almost 80 years ago - namely, its acquisition by a US company as part of the latter's internationalisation strategy. The paper considers the acquisition from the perspective of the internationalisation of both the firm acquired and the firm that undertook the acquisition. Network theory has not traditionally focused on international acquisitions, the form of internationalisation in which James N. Kirby has recently been involved. In addition, network theory does not specifically address acquisitions as part of the internationalisation strategy of acquiring firms. In both instances, the analysis in this paper is in terms of the networks in which each firm was embedded prior to the acquisition and how these networks resulted in the acquisition. The new networks that resulted from the acquisition is then discussed in terms of the internationalisation of the parties involved.