[Nath]

The AA merger plans do certainly solve the issues of givng a new AAA a consistent backstory (as opposed to Horizon, Wuxing, Cross who were fast-tracked into the big league). I do see the point game-wise to downsize the megacorporate pool to 20-30 corporate actors that will all be able to get proper development and occasional spotlight, something which has been somewhat impossible with 10 AAA and about 50 AA.

Realism-wise, I'm not sure I like how seven major, multi-corporate mergers would conveniently take place within the span of two or three years. But maybe they will have different fate, one of them breaking into the AAA lineup, one or two other effectively merging as scheduled into super-AA, one ending with only two or three megacorporations actually merging, one ending into a rather informal alliance similar to the PPG, and the rest completely failing. Possibly they listed so many of them as candidates only to be able to pick one in the end as a replacement for the failing AAA.

Finally, setting-wise, I'll wait to see if and how those mergers manage to establish a distinct identity that will be more than just an addition of different megacorporations, or even one leading corporation subsuming the other.
The existing megacorporations (AAA or AA) often tended to be quite unidimensional - one country and one major business. That's a long way from what actual megacorporation ought to be. I'd stress out how such mergers should be first and foremost about geostrategical choice rather than trying to find what benefits there would be in marrying this product line with this service and so on. This may actually result in those merger being more credible as megacorporation than the existing AAA as they would have by design more diverse origins.

As far as I understand, the proposition appears to be
- an heavy industrial corporation with big factories, chemical tankers and ore trains
- an air and sea corporation pushing for offshore cities (without Proteus, as surprising as it may seems)
- an All-American security corp
- yet-another Japanese corporation
- a German corporation with Mid-Eastern assets
- Pacific Rim corporation A (Gaeatronics with media assets)
- Pacific Rim corporation B (Telestrian-Universal Omnitech)
- Spinrad Industries with extra assets

I remark most of those grouping bear some resemblances to existing AAA - heavy industry and German corp looks like S-K ; All-American could be a replacement for Ares ; the Japanese corporation for, well, any Japanese corporation ; Pacrim A and Spinrad may remind one of Horizon ; Pacrim B could double as an elven Evo.

Oh, and absolutely each and every of the proposed merger names are horrible. Hopefully, in real life, it's common for the name to be chosen very late in the process.

[belaran]

Well, Fuchi/Novatech/NEoNet has one thing going for it, which is never last more than a decade before getting chummed on. Makes me feel kind of sad for Villiers really.

Well, this is also why I hope/expect NeoNET to make it. The history of the megacorp is already a mess ! Let's an other one, for once, take the fall !

My money is on Ares, as this would make thing quite interesting for any american setttings...

[Mirikon]

That'd be a poor bet on your part, belaran. Of the megas that are experiencing significant trouble (Ares, NeoNET, Aztechnology, and EVO) three of those have the 'golden ticket'. Only way Ares, NeoNET, or Aztechnology gets booted off the Court is if the company fractures and someone takes the piece that holds the ticket. With Ares and Aztechnology, that is all but impossible, since Ares was already Ares when it got the ticket, and Aztechnology is ORO with a new coat of paint. On the other hand, it was JRJ International that got the ticket in NeoNET's case, and that has been shuffled around a bit as part of Villiers's portfolio. Where he goes, it goes. Really, only way you'll see Ares or Aztechnology off the court is under two conditions: 1) the Court amends its charter to remove the golden ticket, or 2) the corp in question is destroyed so thoroughly that nothing remains. The first will NEVER happen. The second... well, lets say I'd put more faith in my ability to win several state lotteries in the same week.

Realistically, it is down to a race between NeoNET and EVO. NeoNET could easily implode, and have Villiers run to someone else with his ticket. EVO doesn't have the ticket, which puts them in a bad spot, especially with the Monad issues leaning their way. It comes down to whether it is the Monads or Boston that shakes things up more.

[PiXeL01]

So Villiers could potentially run to EVO. Not that it would do much.

[Mirikon]

He could, but he won't. As they said in Market Panic, if he runs, he'll likely join up with Spinrad. Spinrad's been trying to get that third A for a while, but others (mostly Lofwyr) have been blocking him.

[Herr Brackhaus]

I'd like to see more of/about/with SpIn; let's make it happen, writers! Giddyup!

[Nightmare]

I'd like to see more of/about/with SpIn; let's make it happen, writers! Giddyup!

I wanna see what subsidiaries Spin has.....

[Crimsondude]

I'd like to see more of/about/with SpIn; let's make it happen, writers! Giddyup!

I wanna see what subsidiaries Spin has.....

You'll learn about one soon enough.

[Nightmare]

I'd like to see more of/about/with SpIn; let's make it happen, writers! Giddyup!

I wanna see what subsidiaries Spin has.....

You'll learn about one soon enough.

But I no wanna wait..come one...gimme...gimme....

Oh well..just have to wait....

[Wakshaani]

I'd like to see more of/about/with SpIn; let's make it happen, writers! Giddyup!

I wanna see what subsidiaries Spin has.....

You'll learn about one soon enough.

Oh! Is this where  we tell everyone about Spinrad stealing S-K out from under Lofwyr? Becaus ethat's gonna be ... say, what's that ticking noi-

*KERBOOM*

[Rosa]

Well there's a lot of talk in market panic about Neonets coming implosion, which makes me think that A) Either it will not be Neonet that falls, they will ride out their issues and one of the others will take the fall, most likely Ares or EVO. B) Neonet will indeed fall, but the fallout will create a new mega.

I sincerely hope that EVO isn't the one to fall. As others have alreday said, they make sense from a worldbuilding standpoint. Ares...well...meh, i don't think so, i mean they are the gun corp and the insect hunter corp, but they are not really essential, we can do without them and it would really shake the 6th World to it's core. Neonet is, well a re-hash of Fuchi, and i wouldn't mind seeing them gone tbh, but for the love of Guh, be creative with the new Mega then! Retire Richard Villiers, yeah i know about JRJ and the golden ticket, but there are ways.

There's a lot of talk in Market panic about corporate Development in Africa and the possibility of a new African mega, that could be new and fresh, Having some of the established AA's vaulted to AAA status could be good too, someone suggested TI earlier. That could be cool.

Well there's a lot of possible outcomes alluded to in Market panic, but please, do not make it another Richard Villiers corp, thats just... same old, same old

[carmachu]

So Villiers could potentially run to EVO. Not that it would do much.

Or he could run to Spinrad Industries and that would be fun and entertaining.....

[Sendaz]

Might not be so big a jump since Spinrad and NeoNet may have done shared business before, depending on canon.

I recall from the German pages the following

 His cyberware that even in the cyber sets from vendors such NeoNET or Chara Corp is integrated, marketed SpinIn under the brand name "spin-X».  The "NeoNET / Spin-X rating protection ZK Set" for the police deployment was developed by Spinrad Industries together with NeoNET that thus a public tender for a tailor-made, integrated cyberware package for access commands of star protection gained that of the Frankfurter Bankverein used new CEO the Security service in the ADL had caused.  His own, manufactured to customer cyber Sets sells SpinIn under the under the brand name "Soroyama" in his "Spin Shop» branch stores.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

I would LOVE if, in the attempt to get JRJ International, if Evo slipped in and snatched it out from their noses for the Golden Ticket, but still have NeoSpIn gain a Seat.  It'd definitely be interesting to have Villiers and Spinrad needing to kick permanently into high gear in order to stay a AAA.

It'd also be interesting if the Court got expanded from its long-standing 13 Justices into something larger/more flexible - 21, perhaps?

[Wakshaani]

I like how everyone talks about "the one" corp dying. Singular.