Sunfish
In the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby.." Prime Minister, I couldn't agree with you more but I will certainly try".
As a substantial holder of WES shares, I think they are an outrider. I would also put GE Capital in that bracket. As long as the businesses owned by conglomerates are #1 or #2 in their market, they will generally prosper and the holding company will, with devolved management, be able to overcome the natural tendency for conglomerates to self-destruct.
That said, I agree with your general comments on conglomerates.
To compare QF to WES doesn't actually make any sense, simply because QF Group has units that cannibalise each other in the SAME sector.
BA is an interesting case study.
The minute Ayling was fired, the first item of business for the new Australian CEO was to simplify the business and stop competing with itself. At the time BA owned a number of subsidiaries including, GO, Deutsche BA and Air Liberte. These rubbish subsidiaries consumed immense capital and more importantly management time. They were also a convenient excuse for management to explain the poor performance of BA's short haul business.
The sale or shutting down of these businesses was the first step in the salvation of BA. At the time they also owned 25% of QF and had two board seats. The reason BA sold out in short order was not the failed merger discussions but based purely on the fact that Dixon was replicating the structure that BA was shutting down.
Joyce may be the one to wear the brown smelly stuff but Dixon will own title to the wreckage.