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 ofthe business scene, but the large scale limited liability company accounts für the major proportion of economic activity undertaken in the private sector ofthe economy. One advantage enjoyed by this type ofcompany is its access to a wider range ofpossible 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 18951902 and 1916-22.
