Why is it wrong? It's exactly the reason anti-trust legislation exists in the first place. Monopolies have more pricing power and scale, so all else being equa

Why is it wrong? It's exactly the reason anti-trust legislation exists in the first place. Monopolies have more pricing power and scale, so all else being equal they are lower credit risks than smaller companies. Since they enjoy an advantage on cost of capital, they have an intrinsic synergy when buying out a smaller competitor since they can increase their ROIC simply by lowering their capital costs (and in practice almost always have operational overlap). It makes sense for the banks, it makes sense for the large companies, and it makes sense for the small companies being acquired. The only one being harmed is the consumer. Not that I don't understand you point on a moral basis, it's just that is not the framework used to make these decisions.