IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gig/chaktu/v39y2010i2p101-131.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why Half of China’s Overseas Acquisitions Could Not Be Completed

Author

Listed:
  • Jianhong Zhang
  • Haico Ebbers

Abstract

About half of China’s overseas acquisition attempts have not been completed; the chance of success is much lower than worldwide. This study provides an overview of China’s overseas acquisition, and investigates the reasons behind the low likelihood that an acquisition deal is completed. By using a sample that consists of 1,324 overseas acquisition attempts by Chinese firms, the study found that multi-level determinants influence the outcome of China’s overseas acquisitions. Based on the findings, we conclude that the distinctive social and economic environment of acquirers; ownership and low competitiveness of these acquirers; lack of global experience; and sensitiveness of the industry all hamper Chinese acquisition deals.

Suggested Citation

  • Jianhong Zhang & Haico Ebbers, 2010. "Why Half of China’s Overseas Acquisitions Could Not Be Completed," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 39(2), pages 101-131.
    • Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:39:y:2010:i:2:p:101-131
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/256
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. ,, 2001. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(6), pages 1157-1160, December.
    2. Deng, Ping, 2007. "Investing for strategic resources and its rationale: The case of outward FDI from Chinese companies," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 71-81.
    3. Henry, Darren, 2004. "Corporate governance and ownership structure of target companies and the outcome of takeovers," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 419-444, September.
    4. P. S. Sudarsanam, 1995. "The role of defensive strategies and ownership structure of target firms: Evidence from UK hostile takeover bids," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 1(3), pages 223-240, November.
    5. Ajit Singh, 2006. "Competition and Competition Policy in Emerging Markets: International and Developmental Dimensions," Chapters, in: Philip Arestis & John S.L. McCombie & Roger Vickerman (ed.), Growth and Economic Development, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Deng, Ping, 2009. "Why do Chinese firms tend to acquire strategic assets in international expansion?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 74-84, January.
    7. Douglass C. North, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter.
    8. Walkling, Ralph A., 1985. "Predicting Tender Offer Success: A Logistic Analysis," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 461-478, December.
    9. Charlie Weir, 1997. "Corporate governance, performance and take-overs: an empirical analysis of UK mergers," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(11), pages 1465-1475.
    10. Yasuhiro Yamakawa & Mike W. Peng & David L. Deeds, 2008. "What Drives New Ventures to Internationalize from Emerging to Developed Economies?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(1), pages 59-82, January.
    11. ,, 2001. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(5), pages 1025-1031, October.
    12. Cotter, James F. & Shivdasani, Anil & Zenner, Marc, 1997. "Do independent directors enhance target shareholder wealth during tender offers?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 195-218, February.
    13. John Child & Suzana B. Rodrigues, 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?," Management and Organization Review, International Association of Chinese Management Research, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    14. Yaakov Weber & Oded Shenkar & Adi Raveh, 1996. "National and Corporate Cultural Fit in Mergers/Acquisitions: An Exploratory Study," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(8), pages 1215-1227, August.
    15. P. Holl & J. F. Pickering, 1988. "The determinants and effects of actual, abandoned and contested mergers," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, March.
    16. Rui, Huaichuan & Yip, George S., 2008. "Foreign acquisitions by Chinese firms: A strategic intent perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 213-226, March.
    17. Mike W Peng & Denis Y L Wang & Yi Jiang, 2008. "An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(5), pages 920-936, July.
    18. Aymo Brunetti & Beatrice Weder, 1998. "Investment and institutional uncertainty: A comparative study of different uncertainty measures," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 134(3), pages 513-533, September.
    19. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    20. Hirshleifer, David & Titman, Sheridan, 1990. "Share Tendering Strategies and the Success of Hostile Takeover Bids," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 295-324, April.
    21. John Dunning & Chang-Su Kim & Jyh-Der Lin, 2001. "Incorporating Trade into the Investment Development Path: A Case Study of Korea and Taiwan," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 145-154.
    22. Very, Philippe & Schweiger, David M., 2001. "The acquisition process as a learning process: Evidence from a study of critical problems and solutions in domestic and cross-border deals," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 11-31, April.
    23. Noel O'Sullivan & Pauline Wong, 1998. "Internal versus External Control: An Analysis of Board Composition and Ownership in UK Takeovers," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 2(1), pages 17-35, March.
    24. Child, John & Rodrigues, Suzana B., 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?1," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    25. Yuanzhi Luo, 2005. "Do Insiders Learn from Outsiders? Evidence from Mergers and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(4), pages 1951-1982, August.
    26. Elias Raad & Robert Ryan, 1995. "Capital Structure and Ownership Distribution of Tender Offer Targets: An Empirical Study," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 24(1), Spring.
    27. Deng, Ping, 2004. "Outward investment by Chinese MNCs: Motivations and implications," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 8-16.
    28. Darren Henry, 2005. "Directors’ Recommendations in Takeovers: An Agency and Governance Analysis," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1‐2), pages 129-159, January.
    29. Duggal, Rakesh & Millar, James A., 1994. "Institutional investors, antitakeover defenses and success of hostile takeover bids," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 387-402.
    30. Noel O'Sullivan & Pauline Wong, 1999. "Board composition, ownership structure and hostile takeovers: some UK evidence," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 139-155.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Jianhong & van Witteloostuijn, Arjen & Zhou, Chaohong & Zhou, Shengyang, 2024. "Cross-border acquisition completion by emerging market MNEs revisited: Inductive evidence from a machine learning analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(2).
    2. Zhang, Hongjuan & Young, Michael N. & Tan, Justin & Sun, Weizheng, 2018. "How Chinese companies deal with a legitimacy imbalance when acquiring firms from developed economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 752-767.
    3. Abhirup Chakrabarti & Will Mitchell, 2016. "The role of geographic distance in completing related acquisitions: Evidence from U.S. chemical manufacturers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 673-694, April.
    4. Zhang, Jianhong, 2022. "Liability of emergingness and EMNEs’ cross-border acquisition completion: A legitimacy perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2).
    5. He, Xinming & Zhang, Jianhong, 2018. "Emerging market MNCs' cross-border acquisition completion: Institutional image and strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 139-150.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Jianhong & Zhou, Chaohong & Ebbers, Haico, 2011. "Completion of Chinese overseas acquisitions: Institutional perspectives and evidence," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 226-238, April.
    2. Henry, Darren, 2004. "Corporate governance and ownership structure of target companies and the outcome of takeovers," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 419-444, September.
    3. Yoo, Dasun & Reimann, Felix, 2017. "Internationalization of Developing Country Firms into Developed Countries: The Role of Host Country Knowledge-Based Assets and IPR Protection in FDI Location Choice," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 242-254.
    4. Wei, Yingqi & Zheng, Nan & Liu, Xiaohui & Lu, Jiangyong, 2014. "Expanding to outward foreign direct investment or not? A multi-dimensional analysis of entry mode transformation of Chinese private exporting firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 356-370.
    5. Li, Jiatao & Li, Peixin & Wang, Baolian, 2016. "Do cross-border acquisitions create value? Evidence from overseas acquisitions by Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 471-483.
    6. Li, Xue & Anwar, Sajid & Peng, Fei, 2022. "Cross-border acquisitions and the performance of Chinese publicly listed companies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 575-588.
    7. Ping Deng & Andrew Delios & Mike W. Peng, 2020. "A geographic relational perspective on the internationalization of emerging market firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(1), pages 50-71, February.
    8. Chabowski, Brian R. & Samiee, Saeed, 2023. "A bibliometric examination of the literature on emerging market MNEs as the basis for future research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    9. Chenxi Zhou & Jinhong Xie & Qi Wang, 2016. "Failure to Complete Cross-Border M&As: “To” vs. “From” Emerging Markets," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(9), pages 1077-1105, December.
    10. Lin Cui & Fuming Jiang, 2010. "Behind ownership decision of Chinese outward FDI: Resources and institutions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 751-774, December.
    11. Alessia Amighini & Claudio Cozza & Elisa Giuliani & Roberta Rabellotti & Vittoria Scalera, 2015. "Multinational enterprises from emerging economies: what theories suggest, what evidence shows. A literature review," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(3), pages 343-370, September.
    12. Qi Ai & Hui Tan, 2018. "The intra-firm knowledge transfer in the outward M&A of EMNCs: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 399-425, June.
    13. Ilan Alon & John Anderson & Ziaul Haque Munim & Alice Ho, 2018. "A review of the internationalization of Chinese enterprises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 573-605, September.
    14. Justin Paul, 2016. "The Rise of China: What, When, Where, and Why?," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 207-222, May.
    15. Zheng, Nan & Wei, Yingqi & Zhang, Yabin & Yang, Jingjing, 2016. "In search of strategic assets through cross-border merger and acquisitions: Evidence from Chinese multinational enterprises in developed economies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 177-186.
    16. Diego Quer & Enrique Claver & Laura Rienda, 2012. "Political risk, cultural distance, and outward foreign direct investment: Empirical evidence from large Chinese firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 1089-1104, December.
    17. Fu, Xiaolan & Hou, Jun & Liu, Xiaohui, 2018. "Unpacking the Relationship between Outward Direct Investment and Innovation Performance: Evidence from Chinese firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 111-123.
    18. Yin, Tong & De Propris, Lisa & Jabbour, Liza, 2021. "Assessing the effects of policies on China’s outward foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5).
    19. Liu, Yi & Li, Yuan & Xue, Jiaqi, 2011. "Ownership, strategic orientation and internationalization in emerging markets," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 381-393, July.
    20. Dirk Holtbrügge & Sue Claire Berning, 2018. "Market Entry Strategies and Performance of Chinese Firms in Germany: The Moderating Effect of Home Government Support," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 147-170, February.

    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:gig:chaktu:v:39:y:2010:i:2:p:101-131. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Karsten Giese or Heike Holbig (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dueiide.html .

    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.