IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/amu/wpaper/2011-05.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Why Mergers Fail

Author

Listed:
  • Ralph M. Sonenshine

Abstract

A number of empirical studies have shown that negative abnormal returns often result shortly after a once promising merger is consummated. There are few consistent explanations, however, as to why so many mergers result in such poor performance. This paper sheds light on this issue by examining the effect that structural factors (including market concentration and R&D intensity) have on post-merger abnormal returns. The paper also attempts to assess how differences in valuation among bidders, along with the presence of multiple bidders, influencethe performance of the merged firm. Our findings show that firm value is positively impacted in the first one to three years post merger by acquiring related assets, but that participating in a merger wave in these years has a negative influence. Over longer periods of time these effects are not evident and instead post-merger performance is impacted foremost by intangible asset intensity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ralph M. Sonenshine, 2011. "Why Mergers Fail," Working Papers 2011-05 JEL classificatio, American University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:amu:wpaper:2011-05
    DOI: 10.17606/wx28-f317
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.17606/wx28-f317
    File Function: First version, 2011
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17606/wx28-f317?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Boone, Audra L. & Harold Mulherin, J., 2008. "Do auctions induce a winner's curse? New evidence from the corporate takeover market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Mitchell, Mark L. & Mulherin, J. Harold, 1996. "The impact of industry shocks on takeover and restructuring activity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 193-229, June.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1989. "Management entrenchment : The case of manager-specific investments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 123-139, November.
    4. Gugler, Klaus & Mueller, Dennis C. & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin & Zulehner, Christine, 2003. "The effects of mergers: an international comparison," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 625-653, May.
    5. Mueller, Dennis C., 1989. "Mergers : Causes, effects and policies," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 1-10, March.
    6. Lakonishok, Josef & Vermaelen, Theo, 1990. "Anomalous Price Behavior around Repurchase Tender Offers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 455-477, June.
    7. Gort, Michael & Hogarty, Thomas F, 1970. "New Evidence on Mergers," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(1), pages 167-184, April.
    8. Harford, Jarrad, 2005. "What drives merger waves?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 529-560, September.
    9. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:2685-2718 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Agrawal, Anup & Jaffe, Jeffrey F & Mandelker, Gershon N, 1992. "The Post-merger Performance of Acquiring Firms: A Re-examination of an Anomaly," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1605-1621, September.
    11. Jarrell, Gregg A & Brickley, James A & Netter, Jeffry M, 1988. "The Market for Corporate Control: The Empirical Evidence Since 1980," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 49-68, Winter.
    12. Jensen, Michael C, 1988. "Takeovers: Their Causes and Consequences," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 21-48, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Martynova, Marina & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "A century of corporate takeovers: What have we learned and where do we stand?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 2148-2177, October.
    2. Martynova, M., 2006. "The market for corporate control and corporate governance regulation in Europe," Other publications TiSEM 8651e281-4914-41f2-ac14-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Martynova, M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2005. "Takeover Waves : Triggers, Performance and Motives," Discussion Paper 2005-107, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    4. R. Jared DeLisle & Nathan Walcott, 2017. "The Role of Skewness in Mergers and Acquisitions," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 7(01), pages 1-38, March.
    5. Andrey Golubov & Dimitris Petmezas & Nickolaos G. Travlos, 2013. "Empirical mergers and acquisitions research: a review of methods, evidence and managerial implications," Chapters, in: Adrian R. Bell & Chris Brooks & Marcel Prokopczuk (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Empirical Finance, chapter 12, pages 287-313, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Gugler, Klaus & Mueller, Dennis C. & Weichselbaumer, Michael, 2012. "The determinants of merger waves: An international perspective," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-15.
    7. Nagano, Mamoru & Yuan, Yuan, 2013. "Cross-border acquisitions in a transition economy: The recent experiences of China and India," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 66-79.
    8. Jozsef Molnar, 2002. "Preemptive Horizontal Mergers: Theory and Evidence," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 0213, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    9. Yoshiaki Amano, 2022. "Do acquiring firms achieve their mergers and acquisitions objectives? Evidence from Japan," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2905-2945, June.
    10. Shams, Syed & Gunaskerage, Abeyratna & Velayutham, Eswaran, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and acquisition performance: Australian evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 286-308.
    11. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    12. Bos, Martijn & Demirer, Riza & Gupta, Rangan & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar, 2018. "Oil returns and volatility: The role of mergers and acquisitions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 62-69.
    13. Song, Moon H. & Walkling, Ralph A., 2005. "Anticipation, Acquisitions and Bidder Returns," Working Paper Series 2005-11, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    14. Basnet, Anup & Davis, Frederick & Walker, Thomas & Zhao, Kun, 2021. "The effect of securities class action lawsuits on mergers and acquisitions," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    15. Boone, Jan, 2006. "Firms Merge in Response to Constraints," CEPR Discussion Papers 5744, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Austin, Rebekah E. & Dunham, Lee M., 2022. "Do FinTech acquisitions improve the operating performance or risk profiles of acquiring firms?," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    17. Ovtchinnikov, Alexei V., 2013. "Merger waves following industry deregulation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 51-76.
    18. Dickerson, Andrew P. & Gibson, Heather D. & Tsakalotos, Euclid, 2002. "Takeover risk and the market for corporate control: the experience of British firms in the 1970s and 1980s," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 1167-1195, October.
    19. Karen Geurts & Johannes Van Biesebroeck, 2019. "Employment growth following takeovers," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 50(4), pages 916-950, December.
    20. Deng, Xin & Kang, Jun-koo & Low, Buen Sin, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 87-109.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mergers; Challenges; Abnormal Returns; Research and Development (R&D); Market Concentration;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:amu:wpaper:2011-05. 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: Thomas Meal (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.american.edu/cas/economics/ .

    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.