Matt Stone and Trey Parker bought the real Casa Bonita and improved everything all around; from the decor and atmosphere, the food and drinks, and pays the staff, IIRC, $32/hour.

It's not a big conglomerate, but it's the closest example I could even think of.

Minecraft would've died under Notch.

Victoria's Secret was started by a businessman who felt like there should be a store for men to buy lingerie for women. It didn't go so well. The stores were on the verge of bankruptcy and the company was bought out. The new owner marketed the store towards women and it became the largest lingerie retailer in the US.

There was a social media site called MySpace in the early 2000s that got bought out and my friend Tom made out great and is now a successful photographer. The website went to shit, but my first online friend is living his best life.

Minecraft maybe? I would say at the minimum it's a net neutral but considering how far off the deep end Notch is now I imagine it was a good thing.

First thing that comes to mind is Lamborghini which would not exist today if it were not acquired. It was on the verge of bankruptcy and ended up getting passed around a few times before being acquired by Volkswagen/Audi. I think the general consensus is that access to Audi's technology brought some sophistication in the form of AWD, traction and stability control, and a bump in quality and reliability. I know they only make obscenely expensive cars that few people ever get to enjoy, but they were able to maintain a headquarters and factory in Italy with a few thousand employees which would have definitely shut down without the acquisition.

Edit: On the topic of cars, another example would be Red Bull Racing which originated as a small F1 team started in the 90s. It was bought by Ford and rebranded to Jaguar F1. Ford didn't have much success with it, so they sold the whole team to Red Bull for $1. Red Bull went on to dominate from 2010 to 2013 and again from 2021 to present day.

Not an apple fan really at all but buying that chip design company way back when seems to have been the right move. The M1 chip in my mbp is fantastic.

GitHub started adding new good features after being acquired by Microsoft

One could make the argument for Disney buying Marvel. They made some great movies. They had also then had enough cash to buy back X-Men, etc and bring everything back in under Marvel Studios. Not a big fan of Marvel stuff lately, but everything up through Endgame was great, especially for a comic nerd like myself.

Here's my full list:

YouTube got better before it got to whatever it is now

Volvo has done way better under Geely than they ever have under GM.

We had a local grocery chain get bought out by whole foods (before it was amazon). They went from 80% bullshit homeopathic vitamin shit and 20% old rotting produce to stores with actual (if overpriced) food. I’m sure the local vegans and crystal mommies were sad, but I thought it was a huge improvement.

Motorola, while it was owned by Google, was actually quite good. The Moto g and the Moto x line were started in that era. The original Moto x was one of the best looking phones I've ever used.

Appalachian Mountain Brewery.

They paved the way for new breweries in a little mountain town in western North Carolina. They consistently gave significant percentages to charities, often local. They built a recognized brand and then sold to Anheuser Busch InBev. AB InBev helped them reach new craft beer drinkers with a huge corporate backing. The business ran the same as far as a local consumer could tell. They got a lot of new insight and opportunities.

And then two of the original founders bought it back from AB InBev. First time that's ever happened. Really great guys too. Very happy to continue to see their journey.

Android being bought by Google

I just saw a Jaguar that actually looked pretty nice. I hadn't seen a decent Jaguar since Ford bought them out. So I guess Tata did something right in allowing some style back rather than them just looking like a Ford. But I can't vouch for the rest of the car, just that it looked nice, which is something the original Jaguars always had going for them. That unique style.

BANANA!

Without the many republics and massive damage done we would not have the cheap bananas we all rely on for potassium and low level radiation.

None that I can think of.

And honestly Brand X is rarely the good guy in this situation being fucked over by the big bad corporations.

It is usually the creator/owner is looking for their payday. They may have created a great product but these days that is usually to make them attractive to be bought out.

In tech, for the last few decades, the goal of so many startups is not to be the next Apple/Google/Facebook but to create something that Apple/Google/Facebook want to buy.

This is a pretty good example of a mental bias. Most of the times this happens it's the expected result, so nobody bothers to remember.

Like I can't remember one either. But there's a lot of companies that have been rescued from disaster and turned back around into forgettable mediocrity. I just ... can't think of one.

TO;DR:

Luxury items and brands that we don't really need seem to get better after being bought out. The rest is fucked.

The company I work for got bought out and from my perspective things have only improved. From the perspective of the random customer who has the first thing go wrong in half a decade though? Those immediately blame the acquisition.

Ducati being bought by Audi. Maintenance intervals got better, instead of doing valve adjustments every 7500 miles. It did make the brand move away from dry clutch to a wet clutch, losing some of their iconic sounds ("I dunno man, should the engine sound like that when idling? Sounds like two metal wrenches hitting each other.")

Gucci. It got bought out by PPR in the 90's, they replaced everything but the name pretty much. Tom Ford's work as the new head designer turned Gucci into the iconic modern luxury brand it is today.

(I only really know this as I was slightly obsessed with that House Of Gucci show with Lady Gaga in it. She's a fantastic actress.)