business. The largest firms in the industry were, like Loewen, publicly traded, and had achieved this scale by acquiring hundreds of independent funeral homes and cemeteries. At the end of 1998, the four largest firms (Service Corporation, Loewen, Stewart Enterprises and Carriage Services) collectively owned 2,986 funeral homes and 1,083 cemetery properties in the U.S., but this represented only 13.5% and 11.3%, respectively, of the US market. (They also owned businesses outside the US.) Exhibit 1…
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