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Fire sale acquisitions: Myth vs. reality

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  • Ang, James
  • Mauck, Nathan

Abstract

We provide empirical evidence on the conjecture that in economic crises, firms could be forced to sell at deep discounts, or fire sale prices. Using the conventional stock price near the announcement date, we find instead distressed firms in crisis periods receive a 30% higher offer premium than distressed firms in normal periods; they also receive a 34% higher premium than non-distressed firms in crisis periods. Acquirers also do not gain, at announcement and over the long-term. Acquirers, however, may perceive they realize fire sale discounts if the reference is the targets' highest price in the previous 52Â weeks.

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  • Ang, James & Mauck, Nathan, 2011. "Fire sale acquisitions: Myth vs. reality," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 532-543, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:35:y:2011:i:3:p:532-543
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    5. Moshirian, Fariborz, 2011. "The global financial crisis and the evolution of markets, institutions and regulation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 502-511, March.
    6. Finlay, William & Marshall, Andrew & McColgan, Patrick, 2018. "Financing, fire sales, and the stockholder wealth effects of asset divestiture announcements," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 323-348.
    7. Servaes, Henri & Meier, Jean-Marie A., 2014. "Distressed Acquisitions," CEPR Discussion Papers 10093, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 650-699.
    9. 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.
    10. Adam, Tim R. & Fernando, Chitru S. & Golubeva, Evgenia, 2015. "Managerial overconfidence and corporate risk management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 195-208.
    11. 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.
    12. Simonyan, Karen, 2014. "What determines takeover premia: An empirical analysis," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 93-125.
    13. Oh, Seungjoon, 2018. "Fire-sale acquisitions and intra-industry contagion," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 265-293.
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