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Family firms and the stock market performance of acquisitions and divestitures

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  • Emilie R. Feldman
  • Raphael Amit
  • Belén Villalonga

Abstract

Research Summary This paper explores the stock market performance of acquisitions and divestitures where both, one, or neither of the companies in the transaction are family firms. We find that acquirer shareholder returns are highest when family firms buy businesses from non‐family firm divesters, especially when family chief executive officer (CEO) acquirers buy businesses from non‐family CEO divesters. Additionally, divester shareholder returns are highest when family firms sell businesses to non‐family firm acquirers, especially when family CEO divesters sell businesses to non‐family CEO acquirers. These findings reveal that it is important to consider the characteristics of both the acquiring and divesting firms when analyzing acquisition and divestiture performance, and that the expected gains to family firm acquisitions and divestitures are driven by transactions in which the counterparties are non‐family firms. Managerial Summary This paper explores how investors react to acquisitions and divestitures where both, one, or neither of the companies in the deal are family firms. The stock market performance of acquiring firms is highest when family firms buy businesses from non‐family firms, relative to the other three possible combinations of family and non‐family firm acquirers and divesters. Likewise, the stock market performance of divesting firms is highest when family firms sell businesses to non‐family firms, again relative to the other three possible combinations of family and non‐family acquirers and divesters. These findings suggest that investors take into consideration the identities of both the acquiring and divesting firms when evaluating acquisitions and divestitures, and that this has significant implications for the expected performance gains of these transactions.

Suggested Citation

  • Emilie R. Feldman & Raphael Amit & Belén Villalonga, 2019. "Family firms and the stock market performance of acquisitions and divestitures," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 757-780, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:40:y:2019:i:5:p:757-780
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.2999
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nguyen, Pascal & Rahman, Nahid & Zhao, Ruoyun, 2013. "Ownership structure and divestiture decisions: Evidence from Australian firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 170-181.
    2. Fuad, Mohammad & Thakur, Vinod & Pattnaik, Chinmay & Jain, Rajesh, 2024. "Family firms and the mixed gamble perspective in cross-border acquisitions: A study of Indian firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(1).
    3. Marco Testoni & Mariko Sakakibara & M. Keith Chen, 2022. "Face‐to‐face interactions and the returns to acquisitions: Evidence from smartphone geolocational data," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(13), pages 2669-2702, December.
    4. Villalonga, Belén, 2019. "Demsetz and Villalonga (2001) on ownership structure and corporate performance: Looking back and looking forward," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 64-67.
    5. Zhu, Bing & Xia, Xiaoxue & Zheng, Xiaojia, 2021. "One way out of the share pledging quagmire: Evidence from mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Gholamreza Zandi & Jaspal Singh & Shafi Mohamad & Syed Ehsanullah, 2020. "Ownership Structure and Firm Performance," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(2), pages 293-300, April.
    7. James E. Owers & Bruno S. Sergi, 2021. "The ongoing contributions of spin-off research and practice to understanding corporate restructuring and wealth creation: $100 billion in 1 decade," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, December.
    8. He Soung Ahn, 2020. "Sustaining the Family Business through Open Innovation: The Role of Technological Acquisitions in Shareholder Value Creation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-17, September.
    9. Addis Gedefaw Birhanu & Alfonso Gambardella, 2024. "To commercialize inside or outside of the firm : Behavioral considerations in patent exploitation by family firms," Post-Print hal-04343877, HAL.
    10. Martin Tao-Schuchardt & Frederik J. Riar & Nadine Kammerlander, 2023. "Family Firm Value in the Acquisition Context: A Signaling Theory Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(4), pages 1200-1232, July.

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