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Abnormal returns before acquisition announcements: evidence from Europe

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  • Maria Rosa Borges
  • Ricardo Gairifo

Abstract

Acquisition announcements influence the stock price of target firms, providing an opportunity for insiders to obtain significant abnormal returns. We study the presence of positive abnormal returns before the announcement date, in target firms, quoted in Euronext markets (Belgium, France, The Netherlands and Portugal) from 2001 to 2007. We investigate whether the pre-announcement run-up of prices can be explained by rumours in the media and the percentage of capital previously owned by the bidding firm, among other factors. We examine cumulative abnormal returns in an event window of 60 days prior the acquisition announcement, with the event date adjusted for the previous disclosure of news about the acquisition, in the media. We compute a run-up index, and find that there are abnormal positive returns before the announcement date, confirming previous studies. We find that a significant part of the run-up is explained by: (i) market anticipation triggered by legitimate sources of information, namely, rumours in the media about the possibility of an acquisition bid and (ii) the percentage of capital previously owned in the target firm, by the bidding firm.

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  • Maria Rosa Borges & Ricardo Gairifo, 2013. "Abnormal returns before acquisition announcements: evidence from Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(26), pages 3723-3732, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:45:y:2013:i:26:p:3723-3732
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2012.730134
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael R. King, 2009. "Prebid Run‐Ups Ahead of Canadian Takeovers: How Big Is the Problem?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 38(4), pages 699-726, December.
    2. Jorge Farinha & Francisco Miranda, 2003. "Run-up, toeholds, and agency effects in mergers and acquisitions: evidence from an emerging market," CEF.UP Working Papers 0311, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
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    Cited by:

    1. Antonio Roma, 2022. "Is the value effect due to M&A deals? Evidence from the Italian stock market," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 51(1), February.

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