Cherry Picking versus Lemon Grabbing: Target Selection of Cross-Border and Domestic Acquisitions in Japan

This paper investigates whether foreign firms overtake better local targets relative to domestic firms. Building on the geographic proximity and the value creation argument, we make predictions about whether domestic or foreign firms "cherry pick" the targets or "grab lemons". Our findings from a sample of local targets in Japan acquired by domestic and cross domestic acquirers show that both groups cherry-pick local targets, but they evaluate them differently. Targets with a better financial performance are more likely overtaken by domestic acquirers whereas those with a larger employee or market size are more likely overtaken by foreign acquirers.