conglomerate
adjective
, -ˈglä-mə-\
Definition of conglomerate
(Entry 1 of 3)
conglomerate
verb
\
Definition of conglomerate (Entry 2 of 3)
conglomerate
noun
, -ˈglä-mə-\
Definition of conglomerate (Entry 3 of 3)
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Other Words from conglomerate
Verb
, -ˈglä-mə- ; -mə-ˌrā- \
adjective
\
noun
Noun
, ˌkän- \
adjective
Synonyms & Antonyms for conglomerate
Synonyms: Verb
assemble, cluster, collect, concenter, concentrate, congregate, convene, converge, forgather (or foregather), gather, meet, rendezvous
Synonyms: Noun
Antonyms: Verb
break up, disband, disperse, split (up)
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Examples of conglomerate in a Sentence
Verb
people conglomerated in the downtown streets for an impromptu victory celebration over the years the town's discarded junk conglomerated at the bottom of the riverNoun
a news and entertainment conglomerate Our small company must compete with the big conglomerates.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
In a shareholder vote over competing slates of directors, Elliott narrowly edged out French media conglomerate Vivendi . — Eric Sylvers, WSJ, "Elliott Scores a Victory in Telecom Italia Fight," 4 May 2018 Telecom Italia, whose biggest shareholder is French media conglomerate Vivendi SA, is planning to set aside about 700 million euros ($834 million) to pay for the early retirements and voluntary buyouts, one of the people said. — Bloomberg.com, "Bloomberg," 9 Jan. 2018 Elliott has set up a showdown with Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder, the French media conglomerate Vivendi SA, which owns 24 percent. — Daniele Lepido, Bloomberg.com, "Elliott Said to Back Ferrari-Like Spinoff for Telecom Italia," 21 Mar. 2018 French media conglomerate Vivendi SA, Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder with a 24 percent stake, increased its influence over the Italian phone company last year. — Bloomberg.com, "Bloomberg," 8 Jan. 2018 Erik Hellum has also been appointed as COO of the radio and media conglomerate’s local media. — Billboard, "Executive Turntable: Hires at Def Jam, Plus Moves at Warner Music Group, Townsquare & More," 21 Oct. 2017 For the better part of the past two years, the company has had to deal with a looming takeover threat from French media conglomerate Vivendi, which has slowly been buying shares of the game publisher. — Chris Morris, Fortune, "Ubisoft’s CEO Isn’t Playing Games," 23 Aug. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The bride’s father is the vice president of investor relations and the treasurer of Textron, a global aerospace and defense technologies conglomerate in Providence, R.I. — New York Times, "Emily Salander, Felipe Maciá," 8 July 2018 For SoftBank, a deal would help the Japanese conglomerate put more money to work from its Vision Fund, which is backed largely by Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth funds, as well as money from SoftBank. — Eliot Brown, WSJ, "WeWork in Talks With SoftBank to Double Valuation to as Much as $40 Billion," 13 June 2018 Some media had reported that Singapore Air (singy, -2.66%), Qatar Airways and conglomerate Tata Group were potential bidders, but in the end none showed up. — Fortune, "A Funny Thing Happened When India Put Its National Airline Up for Sale: No One Put in a Bid," 1 June 2018 The company has reached a tentative deal to sell its Nine West and Bandolino footwear and handbag business to conglomerate Authentic Brands Group, which controls the brands of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali and others. — Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY, "Nine West files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection," 6 Apr. 2018 Now SoftBank, a Japanese conglomerate best known in the United States for its ownership of Sprint, is looking to muscle in on this lucrative business. — Landon Thomas Jr., New York Times, "SoftBank Looks to Invade Wall Street’s Turf," 11 Mar. 2018 There are just three major makers of DRAM: Korea conglomerates Samsung and SK Hynix, and Micron, a stand-alone company and the smallest of the three. — David Staats, idahostatesman, "Prosecutors say Micron workers in Taiwan stole tech secrets | Idaho Statesman," 8 Dec. 2017 Within that arena, Remy hopes to position Atlas brands as a bastion of independence within an ever-conglomerating industry. — Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, "Atlas Wine Co. wants to revolutionize grocery store wine," 3 Nov. 2017 Immediate recognition is the reason conglomerates overwhelmingly choose pre-existing fashion labels as vehicles for young talent instead of backing new ventures. — Alexander Fury, New York Times, "In Fashion, the Beauty (and Challenge) of Looking Back," 18 Sep. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Larry Culp’s first shareholder letter as General Electric Co.’s CEO was relatively brief and deployed less frequently some words and phrases that longtime leader Jeff Immelt often used to define the goals of the once-sprawling conglomerate. — Inti Pacheco, WSJ, "GE CEO Letters Decoded: Shrinking Ambitions and Disappearing Buzzwords," 1 Mar. 2019 Similarly, the formation of the AB InBev conglomerate seems to have led to higher beer prices. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "Why criticism of Amazon isn’t sticking," 11 Dec. 2018 Hong Kong is where Evergrande Health, the arm of the conglomerate that technically invested in Faraday Future, is listed. — Sean O'kane, The Verge, "Faraday Future says its main investor is ‘deliberately starving’ it into bankruptcy," 9 Nov. 2018 At the show's start, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the founder of a massive media conglomerate, surprises his kids — and not in a welcome way. — refinery29.com, "Succession Is Inspired By These Real — And Dramatic — Media Moguls," 1 June 2018 Under the contract, to a subsidiary of the conglomerate that helped rebuild the World Trade Center after the terror attacks, the offices should be complete by June 2019. — Carol Rosenberg, miamiherald, "America was at war with al-Qaida by 9/11, judge rules. When did it start? Stay tuned. | Miami Herald," 26 Apr. 2018 According to sources, Rihanna is launching her own clothing collection with the French conglomerate LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Celine, and Fendi, among other heritage fashion brands. — Steff Yotka, Vogue, "Rihanna’s Reportedly Launching a Luxury Fashion Brand—What Will It Look Like?," 18 Jan. 2019 The hotel’s art collection was selected by top Paris curator Hervé Mikaeloff, who works with LVMH, the French luxury conglomerate. — Hannah Seligson, Town & Country, "This Paris Hotel's Art Concierge Provides the Ultimate Insider Travel Experience," 9 Aug. 2018 Last year, for example, after the South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group provided land outside Seoul to the U.S. military for a missile system, Chinese authorities shut down dozens of Lotte Mart retail stores citing fire safety violations. — Danielle Paquette, Washington Post, "U.S. companies in China think the government is already messing with them," 4 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'conglomerate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for conglomerate
conglomerate
nounFinancial Definition of conglomerate
What It Is
A conglomerate is a corporation made up of several smaller, independently-run companies which may operate across several sectors and industries.
How It Works
Conglomerates are generally formed for two reasons: to diversify risk by participating in unrelated businesses or to expand a business within an industry to include suppliers and product purchasers.
Despite the possible benefits, conglomerates face the challenge of becoming so large that they are difficult to manage efficiently. This can lead to a lack of focus, which exacerbates managerial problems and reduces shareholder returns. This reason is why conglomerates often "spin off" subsidiaries into stand-alone entities. Corporations may also fail to realize the anticipated cost savings associated with acquisitions.
Why It Matters
The motto "the parts are worth more than the whole" is the idea behind conglomerates. They are typically very diversified businesses (although some conglomerates stick to one or two industries). This diversification and the efficiencies brought about by shared or reduced costs often make conglomerates less risky than those operating in a single market or niche. Many well-run conglomerates like Berkshire Hathaway and General Electric are much like funds in that they offer diversification and are less sensitive to general business cycles than more focused companies.
Source: Investing Answers
conglomerate
noun
English Language Learners Definition of conglomerate
See the full definition for conglomerate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
conglomerate
noun
\
Kids Definition of conglomerate
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conglomerate
adjective
\
Medical Definition of conglomerate
(Entry 1 of 3)
conglomerate
verb
\
Medical Definition of conglomerate (Entry 2 of 3)
Other Words from conglomerate
\
adjective
conglomerate
noun
\
Medical Definition of conglomerate (Entry 3 of 3)
conglomerate
noun
\
Legal Definition of conglomerate
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