IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedgfe/2007-39.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

An efficiency perspective on the gains from mergers and asset purchases

Author

Abstract

A simple efficiency-based view states that acquisitions shift assets to more productive owners. This implies that expected returns from acquisitions increase with transaction value. We propose using the sensitivity of abnormal returns to scaled transaction value as a measure of efficiency gains. Using this method, we find that the average acquirer obtains an increase of 3% - 5% in the value of the acquired assets. However, efficiency gains vary sharply across acquirer and deal characteristics. We find statistical significance for interactions of relative value and variables known to affect acquirer normal returns. The inclusion of the interaction term sometimes drives away the significance of the variable of interest. These results suggest that improving productivity via capital reallocation plays an important role in understanding acquirer returns from acquisitions.

Suggested Citation

  • Sugata Ray & Missaka Warusawitharana, 2007. "An efficiency perspective on the gains from mergers and asset purchases," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2007-39, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2007-39
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2007/200739/200739abs.html
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2007/200739/200739pap.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Powell, Ronan G. & Stark, Andrew W., 2005. "Does operating performance increase post-takeover for UK takeovers? A comparison of performance measures and benchmarks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 293-317, March.
    2. Sara B. Moeller & Frederik P. Schlingemann & René M. Stulz, 2005. "Wealth Destruction on a Massive Scale? A Study of Acquiring‐Firm Returns in the Recent Merger Wave," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 757-782, April.
    3. Officer, Micah S., 2007. "The price of corporate liquidity: Acquisition discounts for unlisted targets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 571-598, March.
    4. Hansen, Robert G. & Lott, John R., 1996. "Externalities and Corporate Objectives in a World with Diversified Shareholder/Consumers," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 43-68, March.
    5. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    6. Dlugosz, Jennifer & Fahlenbrach, Rudiger & Gompers, Paul & Metrick, Andrew, 2006. "Large blocks of stock: Prevalence, size, and measurement," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 594-618, June.
    7. Mitchell, Mark L & Lehn, Kenneth, 1990. "Do Bad Bidders Become Good Targets?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 372-398, April.
    8. Morellec, Erwan & Zhdanov, Alexei, 2005. "The dynamics of mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 649-672, September.
    9. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 2003. "Stock market driven acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 295-311, December.
    10. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    11. Kaplan, Steven N. (ed.), 2000. "Mergers and Productivity," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226424316, September.
    12. Matthew Rhodes‐Kropf & David T. Robinson, 2008. "The Market for Mergers and the Boundaries of the Firm," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1169-1211, June.
    13. Jensen, Michael C. & Ruback, Richard S., 1983. "The market for corporate control : The scientific evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 5-50, April.
    14. Steven N. Kaplan, 2000. "Mergers and Productivity," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kapl00-1.
    15. Bengt Holmstrom & Steven N. Kaplan, 2001. "Corporate Governance and Merger Activity in the United States: Making Sense of the 1980s and 1990s," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 121-144, Spring.
    16. Erik Devos & Palani-Rajan Kadapakkam & Srinivasan Krishnamurthy, 2009. "How Do Mergers Create Value? A Comparison of Taxes, Market Power, and Efficiency Improvements as Explanations for Synergies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1179-1211, March.
    17. Eisfeldt, Andrea L. & Rampini, Adriano A., 2006. "Capital reallocation and liquidity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 369-399, April.
    18. Boyan Jovanovic & Peter L. Rousseau, 2002. "The Q-Theory of Mergers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 198-204, May.
    19. Schlingemann, Frederik P. & Stulz, Rene M. & Walkling, Ralph A., 2002. "Divestitures and the liquidity of the market for corporate assets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 117-144, April.
    20. Audra L. Boone & J. Harold Mulherin, 2007. "How Are Firms Sold?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(2), pages 847-875, April.
    21. Andrade, Gregor & Stafford, Erik, 2004. "Investigating the economic role of mergers," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 1-36, January.
    22. Asquith, Paul & Bruner, Robert F. & Mullins, David Jr., 1983. "The gains to bidding firms from merger," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 121-139, April.
    23. Martin, Kenneth J, 1996. "The Method of Payment in Corporate Acquisitions, Investment Opportunities, and Management Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(4), pages 1227-1246, September.
    24. K. J. Martijn Cremers & Vinay B. Nair, 2005. "Governance Mechanisms and Equity Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2859-2894, December.
    25. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    26. Warusawitharana, Missaka, 2008. "Corporate asset purchases and sales: Theory and evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 471-497, February.
    27. Mulherin, J. Harold & Boone, Audra L., 2000. "Comparing acquisitions and divestitures," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 117-139, July.
    28. Hart, Oliver, 1995. "Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288817.
    29. Gregor Andrade & Mark Mitchell & Erik Stafford, 2001. "New Evidence and Perspectives on Mergers," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 103-120, Spring.
    30. Moeller, Sara B. & Schlingemann, Frederik P. & Stulz, Rene M., 2004. "Firm size and the gains from acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 201-228, August.
    31. Eckbo, B Espen & Maksimovic, Vojislav & Williams, Joseph, 1990. "Consistent Estimation of Cross-Sectional Models in Event Studies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 3(3), pages 343-365.
    32. Vojislav Maksimovic & Gordon Phillips, 2001. "The Market for Corporate Assets: Who Engages in Mergers and Asset Sales and Are There Efficiency Gains?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2019-2065, December.
    33. Ronald W. Masulis & Cong Wang & Fei Xie, 2007. "Corporate Governance and Acquirer Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1851-1889, August.
    34. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:1:p:31-63 is not listed on IDEAS
    35. Liu Yang, 2008. "The Real Determinants of Asset Sales," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(5), pages 2231-2262, October.
    36. Tim Loughran & Jay Ritter, 2004. "Why Has IPO Underpricing Changed Over Time?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(3), Fall.
    37. Roll, Richard, 1986. "The Hubris Hypothesis of Corporate Takeovers," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(2), pages 197-216, April.
    38. Kaplan, Steven N & Weisbach, Michael S, 1992. "The Success of Acquisitions: Evidence from Divestitures," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(1), pages 107-138, March.
    39. Lucian Bebchuk & Alma Cohen & Allen Ferrell, 2009. "What Matters in Corporate Governance?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 783-827, February.
    40. Kevin Gardiner, 2006. "The market for mergers and the boundaries of the firm," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(01), pages 9-16, April.
    41. Missaka Warusawitharana, 2007. "Corporate asset purchases and sales: theory and evidence," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2007-27, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    42. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:2:p:773-784 is not listed on IDEAS
    43. Harford, Jarrad, 2005. "What drives merger waves?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 529-560, September.
    44. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:2685-2718 is not listed on IDEAS
    45. Kathleen Fuller & Jeffry Netter & Mike Stegemoller, 2002. "What Do Returns to Acquiring Firms Tell Us? Evidence from Firms That Make Many Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1763-1793, August.
    46. Myron B. Slovin & Marie E. Sushka & John A. Polonchek, 2005. "Methods of Payment in Asset Sales: Contracting with Equity versus Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(5), pages 2385-2407, October.
    47. 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.
    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. Ushijima, Tatsuo & Schaede, Ulrike, 2014. "The market for corporate subsidiaries in Japan: An empirical study of trades among listed firms," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 36-52.
    2. Jonathan Wiley & Brandon Cline & Xudong Fu & Tian Tang, 2012. "Valuation Effects for Asset Sales," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 41(3), pages 103-120, June.
    3. Sheng-Syan Chen & Yong-Chin Liu & I-Ju Chen, 2014. "Long-Run Stock Performance and Its Determinants for Asset Buyers," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5-6), pages 685-716, June.
    4. Jinghua Yan, 2011. "Merger Waves: Theory and Evidence," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(03), pages 551-606.
    5. Sheng-Syan Chen & I-Ju Chen, 2011. "Inefficient Investment and the Diversification Discount: Evidence from Corporate Asset Purchases," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7-8), pages 887-914, September.
    6. Li, Di & Taylor, Lucian A. & Wang, Wenyu, 2018. "Inefficiencies and externalities from opportunistic acquirers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(2), pages 265-290.
    7. Warusawitharana, Missaka, 2008. "Corporate asset purchases and sales: Theory and evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 471-497, February.
    8. Andrew C. Chang, 2018. "Nothing is Certain Except Death and Taxes : The Lack of Policy Uncertainty from Expiring \"Temporary\" Taxes," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2018-041, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

    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. Eckbo, B. Espen, 2009. "Bidding strategies and takeover premiums: A review," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 149-178, February.
    2. 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.
    3. Martynova, M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2005. "Takeover Waves : Triggers, Performance and Motives," Discussion Paper 2005-029, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
    4. 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.
    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. Hegde, Shantaram P. & Mishra, Dev R., 2017. "Strategic risk-taking and value creation: Evidence from the market for corporate control," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 212-234.
    7. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 650-699.
    8. Farida Akhtar, 2016. "The probability of a firm making a takeover bid: An empirical analysis of Australian firms," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(1), pages 27-54, February.
    9. Debarati Bhattacharya & Wei-Hsien Li, 2020. "Wealth effects of relative firm value in M&A deals: reallocation of physical versus intangible assets," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1513-1548, November.
    10. Huang, Qianqian & Jiang, Feng & Wu, Szu-Yin (Jennifer), 2018. "Does short-maturity debt discipline managers? Evidence from cash-rich firms' acquisition decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 133-154.
    11. Tilan Tang, 2015. "Bidder's Gain: Evidence from Termination Returns," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 15(4), pages 457-487, December.
    12. El-Khatib, Rwan & Fogel, Kathy & Jandik, Tomas, 2015. "CEO network centrality and merger performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 349-382.
    13. Fangming Xu & Huainan Zhao, 2013. "Three-Way Takeovers," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 36(1), pages 67-90, January.
    14. Mamun, Abdullah & Mishra, Dev & Zhan, Lei, 2021. "The value of intangible capital transfer in mergers," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    15. Li, Xiaoyang, 2013. "Productivity, restructuring, and the gains from takeovers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 250-271.
    16. Robert W. Faff & Abeyratna Gunasekarage & Syed M. M. Shams, 2020. "Does takeover competition affect acquisition choices and bidding firm performance? Australian evidence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 3581-3619, December.
    17. Srinivasan, Shweta, 2020. "Foreign competition and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    18. Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Powell, Ronan & Zhang, Emma Jincheng, 2019. "Practice makes progress: Evidence from divestitures," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 1-19.
    19. Sheng-Syan Chen & Yong-Chin Liu & I-Ju Chen, 2014. "Long-Run Stock Performance and Its Determinants for Asset Buyers," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5-6), pages 685-716, June.
    20. Rhodes-Kropf, Matthew & Robinson, David T. & Viswanathan, S., 2005. "Valuation waves and merger activity: The empirical evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 561-603, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consolidation and merger of corporations; Rate of return;

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity

    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:fip:fedgfe:2007-39. 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: Ryan Wolfslayer ; Keisha Fournillier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbgvus.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.