Success of mergers and history of the companies

I read an interesting comment made by Mr. Lakshimi Mittal today. He said that one of main reason of smooth and successful merger of Mittal Steel and Arcelor was that both the companies were formed by a collecton of more than 50 companies. The previous experience of the managers of the companies mitigated the fear of merger to such an extent that the combined entity reported a profit before interest and tax of USD 19 billion, up by 27% of the combined PBIT of the two companies last year.

According to me, this may add another dimension or parameter on which potential success of a merger/acquisition should be measured. It may not be very relevant for India because such combined entities are less in number in any sector in India.