Eat or Be Eaten: A Theory of Mergers and Firm Size
Abstract
We propose a theory of mergers that combines managerial merger motives with an industry-level regime shift that may lead to value-increasing merger opportunities. Anticipation of these merger opportunities can lead to defensive acquisitions, where managers acquire other firms to avoid losing private benefits if their firms are acquired, or "positioning" acquisitions, where firms position themselves as more attractive takeover targets to earn takeover premia. The identity of acquirers and targets and the profitability of acquisitions depend on the distribution of firm sizes within an industry, among other factors. We find empirical support for some unique predictions of our theory. Copyright (c) 2009 The American Finance Association.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by American Finance Association in its journal The Journal of Finance.
Volume (Year): 64 (2009)
Issue (Month): 3 (06)
Pages: 1291-1344
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Related research
Keywords:Other versions of this item:
- Gary Gorton & Matthias Kahl & Richard J. Rosen, 2006. "Eat or be eaten: a theory of mergers and firm size," Working Paper Series WP-06-14, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
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Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- John Goddard & Donal McKillop & John Wilson, 2009. "Which Credit Unions are Acquired?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 231-252, December.
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