IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v76y2022ics092911992200102x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reference prices, relative values, and the timing of M&A announcements

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Sangwon
  • Yerramilli, Vijay

Abstract

The bidder's relative value with respect to the target (RV) and its 52-week reference values affect who bids for whom as well as the timing of public announcement for bidder-target pairs that announce deals. Deals that are announced when the RV is near its 52-week high feature more stock payment, higher offer premium relative to the target's pre-announcement price but a larger discount relative to the target's 52-week high price, result in more negative announcement returns for the bidding firm in both the short and long run, and are less likely to be completed. Yet, bidders in such deals also experience large and positive abnormal returns over the period from private initiation of discussions with the target to twelve months after announcement. Our results suggest that bidders use past values of RV as reference points to assess relative misvaluation and to strategically choose announcement timing.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Sangwon & Yerramilli, Vijay, 2022. "Reference prices, relative values, and the timing of M&A announcements," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:76:y:2022:i:c:s092911992200102x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102259
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092911992200102X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102259?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bhagat, Sanjai & Dong, Ming & Hirshleifer, David & Noah, Robert, 2005. "Do tender offers create value? New methods and evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 3-60, April.
    2. Chip Heath & Steven Huddart & Mark Lang, 1999. "Psychological Factors and Stock Option Exercise," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 601-627.
    3. 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.
    4. Ming Dong & David Hirshleifer & Scott Richardson & Siew Hong Teoh, 2006. "Does Investor Misvaluation Drive the Takeover Market?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 725-762, April.
    5. Vasia Panousi & Dimitris Papanikolaou, 2012. "Investment, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 1113-1148, June.
    6. Fu, Fangjian & Lin, Leming & Officer, Micah S., 2013. "Acquisitions driven by stock overvaluation: Are they good deals?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 24-39.
    7. Barth, Mary E. & Beaver, William H. & Landsman, Wayne R., 2001. "The relevance of the value relevance literature for financial accounting standard setting: another view," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 77-104, September.
    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. Thomas J. George & Chuan-Yang Hwang, 2004. "The 52-Week High and Momentum Investing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(5), pages 2145-2176, October.
    11. James S. Ang & Yingmei Cheng, 2006. "Direct Evidence On The Market‐Driven Acquisition Theory," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 199-216, June.
    12. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2015. "A five-factor asset pricing model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 1-22.
    13. Kenneth R. Ahern & Denis Sosyura, 2014. "Who Writes the News? Corporate Press Releases during Merger Negotiations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 241-291, February.
    14. Barber, Brad M. & Lyon, John D., 1997. "Detecting long-run abnormal stock returns: The empirical power and specification of test statistics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 341-372, March.
    15. Offenberg, David & Pirinsky, Christo, 2015. "How do acquirers choose between mergers and tender offers?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 331-348.
    16. Baker, Malcolm & Pan, Xin & Wurgler, Jeffrey, 2012. "The effect of reference point prices on mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 49-71.
    17. Jie Cai & Moon H. Song & Ralph A. Walkling, 2011. "Anticipation, Acquisitions, and Bidder Returns: Industry Shocks and the Transfer of Information across Rivals," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(7), pages 2242-2285.
    18. Lang, Larry H. P. & Stulz, ReneM. & Walkling, Ralph A., 1989. "Managerial performance, Tobin's Q, and the gains from successful tender offers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 137-154, September.
    19. 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.
    20. Boyan Jovanovic & Peter L. Rousseau, 2002. "The Q-Theory of Mergers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 198-204, May.
    21. Ma, Qingzhong & Whidbee, David A. & Zhang, Wei, 2019. "Acquirer reference prices and acquisition performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(1), pages 175-199.
    22. Steven Huddart & Mark Lang & Michelle H. Yetman, 2009. "Volume and Price Patterns Around a Stock's 52-Week Highs and Lows: Theory and Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 16-31, January.
    23. Masulis, Ronald W. & Simsir, Serif Aziz, 2018. "Deal Initiation in Mergers and Acquisitions," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(6), pages 2389-2430, December.
    24. Shavin Malhotra & Pengcheng Zhu & Taco H. Reus, 2015. "Anchoring on the acquisition premium decisions of others," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(12), pages 1866-1876, December.
    25. Wang, Wenyu, 2018. "Bid anticipation, information revelation, and merger gains," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(2), pages 320-343.
    26. Fama, Eugene F., 1998. "Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 283-306, September.
    27. Frankel, Richard & Lee, Charles M. C., 1998. "Accounting valuation, market expectation, and cross-sectional stock returns," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 283-319, June.
    28. Servaes, Henri, 1991. "Tobin's Q and the Gains from Takeovers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 409-419, March.
    29. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    30. Jan Bena & Kai Li, 2014. "Corporate Innovations and Mergers and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 1923-1960, October.
    31. 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.
    32. Harford, Jarrad & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Powell, Ronan, 2012. "The sources of value destruction in acquisitions by entrenched managers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 247-261.
    33. Pavel G. Savor & Qi Lu, 2009. "Do Stock Mergers Create Value for Acquirers?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1061-1097, June.
    34. Akbulut, Mehmet E., 2013. "Do Overvaluation-Driven Stock Acquisitions Really Benefit Acquirer Shareholders?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(4), pages 1025-1055, August.
    35. Yu Yu & Nita Umashankar & Vithala R. Rao, 2016. "Choosing the right target: Relative preferences for resource similarity and complementarity in acquisition choice," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1808-1825, August.
    36. Lucian Bebchuk & Alma Cohen & Allen Ferrell, 2009. "What Matters in Corporate Governance?," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 783-827, February.
    37. Stephen H. Penman, 1998. "Combining Earnings and Book Value in Equity Valuation," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 291-324, September.
    38. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    39. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips, 2010. "Product Market Synergies and Competition in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Text-Based Analysis," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3773-3811, October.
    40. Francis, J & Schipper, K, 1999. "Have financial statements lost their relevance?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 319-352.
    41. Matthew Rhodes-Kropf & S. Viswanathan, 2004. "Market Valuation and Merger Waves," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(6), pages 2685-2718, December.
    42. Ben-David, Itzhak & Drake, Michael S. & Roulstone, Darren T., 2015. "Acquirer Valuation and Acquisition Decisions: Identifying Mispricing Using Short Interest," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(1-2), pages 1-32, April.
    43. 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.
    44. Andrey Golubov & Dimitris Petmezas & Nickolaos G. Travlos, 2016. "Do Stock-Financed Acquisitions Destroy Value? New Methods and Evidence," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(1), pages 161-200.
    45. Raghavendra Rau, P. & Vermaelen, Theo, 1998. "Glamour, value and the post-acquisition performance of acquiring firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 223-253, August.
    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. Kang, Hyung Cheol & Lee, Sangwon, 2023. "What has been changed in SPAC mergers? Evidence from Korea since their introduction," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    2. Wen Shi & Xiaogang Bi, 2023. "Buddhism and M&A performance: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 4505-4531, December.

    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. Ma, Qingzhong & Whidbee, David A. & Zhang, Wei, 2019. "Acquirer reference prices and acquisition performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(1), pages 175-199.
    2. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 650-699.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. An, Suwei, 2023. "Essays on incentive contracts, M&As, and firm risk," Other publications TiSEM dd97d2f5-1c9d-47c5-ba62-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Other publications TiSEM 9baa3ffc-67cb-4647-9da5-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Mario Fischer, 2015. "Challenging the payment effect in bank-financed takeovers," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 347-376, October.
    8. 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.
    9. Sean Cleary & Ashrafee Hossain, 2020. "POSTCRISIS M&As AND THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(2), pages 407-454, May.
    10. Surendranath Jory & Thanh Ngo & Jurica Susnjara, 2020. "Stock mergers and acquirers’ subsequent stock price crash risk," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 359-387, January.
    11. Michael Klitzka & Jianan He & Dirk Schiereck, 2022. "The rationality of M&A targets in the choice of payment methods," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 933-967, May.
    12. Martynova, M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2005. "Takeover Waves : Triggers, Performance and Motives," Discussion Paper 2005-029, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
    13. Wenjing Ouyang & Samuel H. Szewczyk, 2018. "Stock price informativeness on the sensitivity of strategic M&A investment to Q," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 745-774, April.
    14. Lin, Hsuan-Chu & Chou, Ting-Kai & Cheng, Jia-Chi, 2011. "Does market misvaluation drive post-acquisition underperformance in stock deals?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 690-706, October.
    15. Malmendier, Ulrike & Opp, Marcus M. & Saidi, Farzad, 2016. "Target revaluation after failed takeover attempts: Cash versus stock," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 92-106.
    16. 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.
    17. Eckbo, B. Espen, 2009. "Bidding strategies and takeover premiums: A review," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 149-178, February.
    18. Fischer, Mario, 2017. "The source of financing in mergers and acquisitions," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 227-239.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.

    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:eee:corfin:v:76:y:2022:i:c:s092911992200102x. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    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.