IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v96y2024ipbs1057521924006094.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of ESG distance on mergers and acquisitions

Author

Listed:
  • Tang, Ning
  • Xu, Xiaodong
  • Hsu, Yuan-Teng
  • Lin, Chih-Yung

Abstract

In this study, we utilize the most recent ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) data to calculate the ESG distance between acquiring and target firms, subsequently assessing its impact on merger outcomes. Our analysis suggests that deals with a larger ESG distance are associated with reduced cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) around the deal announcements. We find that, following the Kyoto Protocol in 2005, counterparties with larger ESG distances are less favored by investors. This suggests that the market perceives significant ESG distance as a potential impediment to seamless post-merger integration. Notably, a pronounced acquirer-target ESG distance diminishes the propensity for mergers, especially when target firms with more bargaining power during the negotiation. In the long-term performance of acquiring firms, we discern that ESG disparity reduces firm performance and increases crash risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Tang, Ning & Xu, Xiaodong & Hsu, Yuan-Teng & Lin, Chih-Yung, 2024. "The impact of ESG distance on mergers and acquisitions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:96:y:2024:i:pb:s1057521924006094
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103677
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521924006094
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103677?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ESG distance; M&as; Deal initiation; Announcement returns; Kyoto protocol;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:96:y:2024:i:pb:s1057521924006094. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620166 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.