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The Bright Side of Fire Sales

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  • Jean-Marie Meier
  • Henri Servaes

Abstract

Firms that buy assets in fire sales earn excess returns that are 2 percentage points higher than in regular acquisitions. The mechanism behind this result is the sellers’ reduced bargaining power. We find no difference in real effects or in the combined returns for buyers and sellers between fire sales and regular acquisitions, suggesting that the quality of the match is similar in both types of transactions. The externalities of fire sales for other stakeholders are limited. These results indicate that the welfare losses associated with fire sales are smaller than previously thought. Received December 17, 2015; editorial decision November 20, 2018 by Editor Itay Goldstein.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Marie Meier & Henri Servaes, 2019. "The Bright Side of Fire Sales," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(11), pages 4228-4270.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:32:y:2019:i:11:p:4228-4270.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhz019
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    Cited by:

    1. Douglas Gale & Tanju Yorulmazer, 2020. "Bank capital, fire sales, and the social value of deposits," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 69(4), pages 919-963, June.
    2. Nishihara, Michi & Shibata, Takashi, 2018. "Dynamic bankruptcy procedure with asymmetric information between insiders and outsiders," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 118-137.
    3. Jana P. Fidrmuc & Tereza Tykvova, 2023. "Are Acquirer Shareholders Happier when Their Industries Are Unhappy?," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 23-52, Swiss Finance Institute.
    4. Iwasaki, Ichiro & Kočenda, Evžen & Shida, Yoshisada, 2021. "Distressed acquisitions: Evidence from European emerging markets," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 962-990.
    5. Zhang, Eden Quxian, 2022. "Why are distressed firms acquisitive?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Bian, Bo & Li, Yingxiang & Nigro, Casimiro A., 2022. "Conflicting fiduciary duties and fire sales of VC-backed start-ups," LawFin Working Paper Series 35, Goethe University, Center for Advanced Studies on the Foundations of Law and Finance (LawFin).
    7. Dunbar, Craig G. & King, Michael R., 2023. "Syndicate structure and IPO outcomes: The impact of underwriter roles and syndicate concentration," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Nishihara, Michi & Shibata, Takashi, 2019. "Liquidation, fire sales, and acquirers’ private information," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    9. Song Ma & Joy Tianjiao Tong & Wei Wang, 2022. "Bankrupt Innovative Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6971-6992, September.

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