They have entered the denial stage.

This is followed by the fighting stage, where the target does everything it can to fight back. In rare cases a company may manage to hold MS off. But it is more common that bungling and errors inflicted by companies in this stage on their customers make it easier for MS.

Then comes the acceptance stage, where the companies with big client bases sell out their client base to MS in exchange for exit money.

Then comes the coma stage, where a handfull of small companies survive in the gaps of the MS overlordship.

Jay