As capital markets have become more global integrated and liquid, investors can
diversify by themselves at low cost rather than delegating this task to managers. Most
analysts have become hostile to the concept of a conglomerate and have come to believe
in the importance of focus. Comment and Jarrell (1995) document a shift toward focus
and find that the percentage of firms listing one business segment increased from 36.2%
to 63.9% and that the average number of segments fell from 2.59 to 1.72. The average
number of SIC codes per firm fell from 4.17 to 2.95. The buyout boom of the 1990s has
also presented obstacles for some conglomerates and many of the major diversified
business firms are struggling to justify their existence. As an example on October 23,
2005, Cendant Corporation separated into four separate entities. The company sold three
of the four business lines, leaving a nicely focused entity. The Cendant name was
completely dissolved and the company changed its name to Avis Budget Group. Altria
Group, the parent company of Kraft Foods and Philip Morris International, Philip Morris
USA and Philip Morris Capital Corp spun-off all its shares in Kraft Foods, which became
an independent firm in 2007, and has announced its intention to also spin-off its
ownership of Philip Morris. Tyco, a conglomerate beset by scandal that was active in