ABSTRACT
The unincorporated enterprise and the proprietorship company remained dominant in most industries until the last quarter of the nineteenth century. These, today, remain important features of the business scene, but the large scale limited liability company accounts for the major proportion of economic activity undertaken in the private sector of the economy. One advantage enjoyed by this type of company is its access to a wider range of possible sources of finance, and this has facilitated growth, either by extending its existing business activities (internal growth), or by merging the activities of two or more separate legal entities (external growth). Early spurts of merger activity occurred in Britain between 1895–1902 and 1916–22.
