C1 Business: Mergers, Takeovers and Strategy

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How to use this lesson

Teacher Note

Guide students through the 10 core strategy terms, allowing 20 minutes total for study and practice.

Check answers automatically as students complete each block, then lead short oral repetitions during shadowing.

Learner Guide

Read the vocabulary table first to master definitions, collocations, and memory tricks.

Next, work through the 16 interactive exercises and complete the audio shadowing recordings at the end.

Example to notice

"The owners plan to phase out two products and set up a subsidiary."

Word table

Study the target corporate vocabulary across three key strategic themes.

Theme 1: Deals and Owners

Word	Meaning	Common Collocations	Word Forms	Example Sentence	Memory Tip
merger	The joining of two separate companies into one single entity.	proposed merger, approve a merger	merge (v)	"The board approved a merger with our main competitor."	Think of two lanes of traffic merging into one road.
acquisition	The buying of one company by another organisation.	complete an acquisition, target acquisition	acquire (v)	"The executive team finalized the acquisition after months of intense negotiation."	Connect to acquire (to gain or get something new).
subsidiary	A company that is completely or partly controlled by a parent company.	wholly-owned subsidiary, establish a subsidiary	–	"Our firm established a local subsidiary to manage all regional sales."	Prefix sub- means under (under parent control).
shareholder	An individual or institution that legally owns shares in a corporation.	majority shareholder, shareholder meeting	share (n)	"Every shareholder receives a payout at the end of each year."	A person who holds a share of the business.

Theme 2: Changing a Company

Word	Meaning	Common Collocations	Word Forms	Example Sentence	Memory Tip
restructure	To organize a system or business in a new and different way.	restructure operations, plan to restructure	restructuring (n)	"We plan to restructure departments to improve overall efficiency."	Prefix re- (again) + structure (build).
downsize	To make a financial or workforce footprint smaller to reduce costs.	downsize staff, downsize operations	downsizing (n)	"The company had to downsize staff during the recent financial crisis."	Down + size = reducing the physical scale.
streamline	To make a system or process smoother, faster, and more efficient.	streamline workflows, streamline operations	streamlined (adj)	"Management moved to streamline internal operations and cut delay."	Picture a sleek streamlined sports car moving fast.

Theme 3: Money and Markets

Word	Meaning	Common Collocations	Word Forms	Example Sentence	Memory Tip
stake	A financial share or percentage of ownership in a business.	majority stake, buy a stake	–	"The founder retained a controlling stake in the tech firm."	Think of driving a wooden stake into your land.
dividend	A portion of corporate profits paid directly to shareholders.	quarterly dividend, pay a dividend	–	"We pay a quarterly dividend to every registered investor."	Think of profits being divided up among owners.
monopoly	Complete control of a product or market by one single company.	market monopoly, create a monopoly	monopolise (v)	"Regulators blocked the merger to prevent a market monopoly."	Prefix mono- means single or one sole owner.

Practice

Complete these 16 items ranging from vocabulary matching to word formation.

Part A: Collocation Matrix (Items 1–4)

Match each action on the left with its standard business noun on the right.

Item 1: Complete an...

____ acquisition ____ dividend ____ stake ____ merger

Item 2: Pay a quarterly...

____ acquisition ____ dividend ____ stake ____ merger

Item 3: Buy a majority...

____ acquisition ____ dividend ____ stake ____ merger

Item 4: Two equal firms combine in a...

____ acquisition ____ dividend ____ stake ____ merger

Part B: Gap-Fills with Word Bank (Items 5–8)

Word Bank: restructure downsize shareholder monopoly

Item 5: Dialogue A

Manager: "Our current operational hierarchy is slowing down project decisions."

Director: "I agree. We need to ____ the organizational workflow immediately."

Item 6: Executive Briefing

To reduce fixed overhead during downturns, executive leadership had to ____ the central headcount across three regional divisions.

Item 7: Annual Meeting

Every major ____ was invited to submit a vote regarding the proposed leadership appointments.

Item 8: Regulatory Notice

Antitrust authorities intervened in the transaction to prevent the creation of a dominant ____ in the regional energy sector.

Part C: Choose the Word (Items 9–12)

Select the single correct word that best fits the precise contextual meaning of each sentence.

Item 9: The parent company established a new foreign _____ to oversee European distribution.

____ a) merger ____ b) subsidiary ____ c) dividend

Item 10: Investors were pleased when the firm announced a higher quarterly _____ following record revenue.

____ a) dividend ____ b) monopoly ____ c) acquisition

Item 11: The tech startup sold a controlling _____ to a global venture capital fund.

____ a) stake ____ b) merger ____ c) shareholder

Item 12: Consultants were hired to _____ internal processes and eliminate wasteful admin steps.

____ a) downsize ____ b) streamline ____ c) acquire

Part D: Word Formation (Items 13–16)

Change the word in brackets into the form that fits the sentence.

Item 13: Verb Form

"The two pharmaceutical competitors plan to ____ (merger) next month to form a new global industry leader."

Item 14: Verb Form

"After long negotiations, the investment group managed to ____ (acquisition) its principal rival in Asia."

Item 15: Noun Form

"Following the extensive corporate ____ (restructure), operational throughput improved significantly across all teams."

Item 16: Adjective Form

"The executive council implemented a ____ (streamline) reporting process that eliminated redundant approvals."

Shadowing

Listen to the natural pronunciation, then record yourself repeating each phrase and sentence.

Collocation 1

complete an acquisition

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 2

pay a quarterly dividend

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 3

streamline internal operations

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 4

buy a majority stake

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 1

The board approved a merger with our main competitor.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 2

We plan to restructure departments to improve overall efficiency.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 3

Every shareholder receives a payout at the end of each year.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 4

The company had to downsize staff during the recent financial crisis.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 5 (subsidiary)

Our firm established a local subsidiary to manage all regional sales.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 6 (acquisition)

The executive team finalized the acquisition after months of intense negotiation.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

How to use this lesson

Word table

Theme 1: Deals and Owners

Theme 2: Changing a Company

Theme 3: Money and Markets

Practice

Part A: Collocation Matrix (Items 1–4)

Part B: Gap-Fills with Word Bank (Items 5–8)

Part C: Choose the Word (Items 9–12)

Part D: Word Formation (Items 13–16)

Shadowing

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