IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-05302708.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How do acquirers bid? Evidence from serial acquisitions in China

Author

Listed:
  • Y. Yaru Ren
  • J. Li

    (Audencia Business School)

  • Y. Yiwei Yao
  • L. Linti Zhang

Abstract

This study explores the anchoring effect of previous bid premiums on acquirers' bidding behavior in serial acquisitions. We demonstrate that, after controlling for deal, target, as well as acquirer characteristics, learning, and unobserved confounding factors, the current bid premium is positively correlated with the acquirer's previous bid premium. The strength of this anchoring effect diminishes with longer time intervals between acquisitions and increases with the industry similarity of targets and acquisition frequency. Notably, it remains unaffected by the acquirer's state ownership. Additionally, the anchoring effect is less pronounced during periods of high economic uncertainty and can reverse following a change in the acquirer's CEO. Our findings suggest that serial acquisitions are interrelated events, challenging the notion that each bid is an isolated occurrence. This research provides insights into the underperformance of serial acquirers compared to single acquirers and the declining trend in announcement returns across successive deals.

Suggested Citation

  • Y. Yaru Ren & J. Li & Y. Yiwei Yao & L. Linti Zhang, 2025. "How do acquirers bid? Evidence from serial acquisitions in China," Post-Print hal-05302708, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05302708
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2025.102925
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05302708v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-05302708v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2025.102925?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anwer S. Ahmed & Scott Duellman, 2013. "Managerial Overconfidence and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 51(1), pages 1-30, March.
    2. Christian Schumacher & Steffen Keck & Wenjie Tang, 2020. "Biased interpretation of performance feedback: The role of CEO overconfidence," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 1139-1165, June.
    3. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1990. "Do Managerial Objectives Drive Bad Acquisitions?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 31-48, March.
    4. Jaffe, Jeffrey & Pedersen, David & Voetmann, Torben, 2013. "Skill differences in corporate acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 166-181.
    5. Alan Beggs & Kathryn Graddy, 2009. "Anchoring Effects: Evidence from Art Auctions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(3), pages 1027-1039, June.
    6. 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.
    7. Wang, Yaping & Wu, Liansheng & Yang, Yunhong, 2009. "Does the stock market affect firm investment in China? A price informativeness perspective," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 53-62, January.
    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. Majumder, Debasish, 2014. "Asset pricing for inefficient markets: Evidence from China and India," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 282-291.
    10. 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.
    11. Matthew T. Billett & Yiming Qian, 2008. "Are Overconfident CEOs Born or Made? Evidence of Self-Attribution Bias from Frequent Acquirers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(6), pages 1037-1051, June.
    12. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    13. Julio J. Rotemberg & Garth Saloner, 1993. "Leadership Style and Incentives," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(11), pages 1299-1318, November.
    14. Malmendier, Ulrike & Tate, Geoffrey, 2008. "Who makes acquisitions? CEO overconfidence and the market's reaction," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 20-43, July.
    15. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    16. Gary Gorton & Matthias Kahl & Richard J. Rosen, 2009. "Eat or Be Eaten: A Theory of Mergers and Firm Size," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1291-1344, June.
    17. 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.
    18. Hossain, Md Mosharraf & Pham, Man Duy (Marty) & Islam, Nahid, 2021. "The performance and motivation of serial acquisitions: Evidence from Australia," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    19. Julio Rotemberg & Garth Saloner, 2000. "Visionaries, Managers, and Strategic Direction," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 693-716, Winter.
    20. Peter Cheng & Lin Li & Wilson H.S. Tong, 2016. "Target Information Asymmetry and Acquisition Price," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(7-8), pages 976-1016, July.
    21. 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.
    22. Stijn Claessens & Joseph P. H. Fan, 2002. "Corporate Governance in Asia: A Survey," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 3(2), pages 71-103, June.
    23. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Puri, Manju, 2013. "Managerial attitudes and corporate actions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 103-121.
    24. Brown, Rayna & Sarma, Neal, 2007. "CEO overconfidence, CEO dominance and corporate acquisitions," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(5), pages 358-379.
    25. Michael N. Young & Mike W. Peng & David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton & Yi Jiang, 2008. "Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies: A Review of the Principal–Principal Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 196-220, January.
    26. Schrand, Catherine M. & Zechman, Sarah L.C., 2012. "Executive overconfidence and the slippery slope to financial misreporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 311-329.
    27. Li, Ying & Lu, Miao & Lo, Y. Ling, 2019. "The impact of analyst coverage on partial acquisitions: Evidence from M&A premium and firm performance in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 37-60.
    28. Jeffry Netter & Mike Stegemoller & M. Babajide Wintoki, 2011. "Implications of Data Screens on Merger and Acquisition Analysis: A Large Sample Study of Mergers and Acquisitions from 1992 to 2009," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(7), pages 2316-2357.
    29. 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.
    30. Tomi Laamanen, 2007. "On the role of acquisition premium in acquisition research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1359-1369, December.
    31. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2003. "Managing with Style: The Effect of Managers on Firm Policies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1169-1208.
    32. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Wong, T. J., 2002. "Corporate ownership structure and the informativeness of accounting earnings in East Asia," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 401-425, August.
    33. 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.
    34. Ismail, Ahmad, 2008. "Which acquirers gain more, single or multiple? Recent evidence from the USA market," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 72-84.
    35. 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.
    36. Roll, Richard, 1986. "The Hubris Hypothesis of Corporate Takeovers," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(2), pages 197-216, April.
    37. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    38. Philipp Meyer‐Doyle & Sunkee Lee & Constance E. Helfat, 2019. "Disentangling the microfoundations of acquisition behavior and performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(11), pages 1733-1756, November.
    39. Yim, Soojin, 2013. "The acquisitiveness of youth: CEO age and acquisition behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 250-273.
    40. Guariglia, Alessandra & Yang, Junhong, 2016. "A balancing act: Managing financial constraints and agency costs to minimize investment inefficiency in the Chinese market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 111-130.
    41. Stephen P. Ferris & Narayanan Jayaraman & Min‐Yu (Stella) Liao, 2024. "Cultural, trust, and transparency effects on the use of anchoring in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-25, March.
    42. Ole-Kristian Hope & Wayne Thomas & Dushyantkumar Vyas, 2011. "The cost of pride: Why do firms from developing countries bid higher?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(1), pages 128-151, January.
    43. Cain, Matthew D. & McKeon, Stephen B., 2016. "CEO Personal Risk-Taking and Corporate Policies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 139-164, February.
    44. 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.
    45. Campbell, T. Colin & Gallmeyer, Michael & Johnson, Shane A. & Rutherford, Jessica & Stanley, Brooke W., 2011. "CEO optimism and forced turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 695-712, September.
    46. Golubov, Andrey & Yawson, Alfred & Zhang, Huizhong, 2015. "Extraordinary acquirers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 314-330.
    47. Hong Zhu & Qi Zhu, 2016. "Mergers and acquisitions by Chinese firms: A review and comparison with other mergers and acquisitions research in the leading journals," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 1107-1149, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 650-699.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Guo, Junru & He, Jia & Liu, Sibo & Wang, Yonglin, 2025. "CEO relative age at school entry and corporate risk-taking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    5. Gokkaya, Sinan & Liu, Xi & Stulz, René M., 2023. "Do firms with specialized M&A staff make better acquisitions?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(1), pages 75-105.
    6. Elnahas, Ahmed M. & Kim, Dongnyoung, 2017. "CEO political ideology and mergers and acquisitions decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 162-175.
    7. Nguyen, Thi Bao Ngoc & Ke, Dun-Yao & Su, Xuan-Qi, 2025. "Do CEOs with elite education matter? Evidence from shareholder value in mergers and acquisitions," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Ismail, Ahmad & Mavis, Christos P., 2022. "A new method for measuring CEO overconfidence: Evidence from acquisitions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Meng, Qingbin & Zhong, Ziya & Li, Xinyu & Wang, Song, 2023. "What protects me also makes me behave: The role of directors' and officers' liability insurance on empire-building managers in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Tunyi, Abongeh A., 2021. "Revisiting acquirer returns: Evidence from unanticipated deals," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    11. Tobias Heizer & Laura R. Rettig, 2020. "Top management team optimism and its influence on firms' financing and investment decisions," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(4), pages 601-622, October.
    12. Alexandridis, G. & Antypas, N. & Travlos, N., 2017. "Value creation from M&As: New evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 632-650.
    13. 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.
    14. Syed Shams & Kristina Minnick & Mehdi Khedmati & Abeyratna Gunasekarage, 2024. "Gender diversity and acquisitions: How female directors add value in acquisition decisions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1-2), pages 113-147, January.
    15. 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.
    16. Hussain, Tanveer & Loureiro, Gilberto, 2023. "Target industry takeover competition and the wealth effects of mergers and acquisitions: International evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    17. Alexandridis, George & Chen, Zhong & Zeng, Yeqin, 2021. "Financial hedging and corporate investment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    18. Stevo Pavićević & Thomas Keil, 2021. "The role of procedural rationality in debiasing acquisition decisions of overconfident CEOs," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(9), pages 1696-1715, September.
    19. Shams, Syed, 2021. "Competition in the acquisition market and returns to bidders in Australia," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    20. Hwang, Hyoseok (David) & Kim, Hyun-Dong & Kim, Taeyeon, 2020. "The blind power: Power-led CEO overconfidence and M&A decision making," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:hal:journl:hal-05302708. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.