This reminds me of the AOL Time Warner merger. "Back in the day", America Online (AOL) had a valuation large enough to pull it off:

  It was the largest merger in history when completed with 
  the combined value of the companies at $360 billion.[0]

After less than a decade, once ISP's became a thing, the AOL part of the new company shriveled into nothing and was spun off. It still exists, in name if not anything recognizable to what it once was.

0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#2000%E2%80%932008:_As_AOL_...