Checkout the Balance sheet of any listed company. Look for the...

Checkout the Balance sheet of any listed company. Look for the item "Goodwill". This is the blue-sky amount over the asset value that they paid for something they acquired, like another company.

Usually, a year or so after the acquisition, the written down value of the acquired company goes down and the amount of "Goodwill" goes up as the accountants and auditors understand the real cash flow value of the acquisition.

Then after several years, once it's clear the acquired company won't deliver the benefits that management believed were there at the time of acquisition, the Goodwill is also reduced, as is the overall asset value of the main company.

Bad luck shareholders!

It doesn't always happen, but often does.