Naguib Sawiris, CEO of Egyptian Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), continuously scoured the globe for opportunities to expand his telecommunications empire. In 2005, Naguib looked across the Mediterranean Sea and announced his intention to acquire Italian telecom operator Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A. (Wind), one of Italy's leading telecommunication providers in the largest leveraged buyout in European business history.

This note deals with the issues of strategy, the first common source of acquisition failure. An appropriate master plan that links strategy and integration is a critical requirement for this interplay and ensures that the target will improve the acquirer's overall competitive abilities.

This case shows how the Roman army adopted the tactics, types of arms, and pieces of armor that were effectively used by its adversaries. Besides equipment, the Romans also incorporated superior intangibles such as tactical knowledge of their enemies. For example, when the Roman Republic confronted the Gauls in 390 BC, the open fighting order of the Gallic tribes had revealed the weaknesses of the Roman phalanx fighting style. Over the next half-century, the Roman army incorporated these superior tactics and underwent substantial changes that made the Roman army an even more efficient fighting machine.