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The role of the seller’s stock performance in the market reaction to divestiture announcements

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  • Pascal Nguyen

Abstract

Divestitures have the potential to create shareholder value. However, the extent of the market reaction should depend on the likelihood of finding more valuable uses for the divested assets or the ability on the part of the seller to eliminate negative synergies. We hypothesize that strong performers have less scope to achieve substantial improvements compared to poorly performing firms. Using the seller’s stock return in excess of the market return in the 1-year and 2-year periods preceding the divestiture announcement to expose the divesting firm’s inefficient use of its assets, we show that the market reaction to divestiture announcements is significantly higher for underperforming firms. The difference in abnormal returns can be as high as 4 %. In contrast, none of the accounting-based variables that have been used in previous studies are found to be significantly related to the announcement returns. These results suggest that the firm’s stock performance is a more useful indicator of the wealth effect associated with divestitures. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Pascal Nguyen, 2016. "The role of the seller’s stock performance in the market reaction to divestiture announcements," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 40(1), pages 19-40, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jecfin:v:40:y:2016:i:1:p:19-40
    DOI: 10.1007/s12197-014-9289-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Divestitures; Value creation; Firm performance; Abnormal returns; Restructuring; G31; G32; G34;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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