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Do shareholders of acquiring firms gain from acquisitions?

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  • Sara B. Moeller
  • Frederik P. Schlingemann
  • Rene M. Stulz

Abstract

We examine a sample of 12,023 acquisitions by public firms from 1980 to 2001. Shareholders of these firms lost a total of $218 billion when acquisitions were announced. Though shareholders lose throughout our sample period, losses associated with acquisition announcements after 1997 are dramatic. Small firms gain from acquisitions, so that shareholders of small firms gained $8 billion when acquisitions were announced and shareholders of large firms lost $226 billion. We examine the cross-sectional variation in the announcement returns of acquisitions. Small firm shareholders earn systematically more when acquisitions are announced. This size effect is typically more important than how an acquisition is financed and than the organizational form of the assets acquired. The only acquisitions that have positive aggregate gains are acquisitions of subsidiaries.

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  • Sara B. Moeller & Frederik P. Schlingemann & Rene M. Stulz, 2003. "Do shareholders of acquiring firms gain from acquisitions?," NBER Working Papers 9523, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:9523
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    Cited by:

    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. Svetlana Grigorieva & Tatiana Petrunina, 2013. "The performance of mergers and acquisitions in emerging capital markets: new evidence," HSE Working papers WP BRP 20/FE/2013, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    3. C. N. V. Krishnan & Vasiliy Yakimenko, 2022. "Market Misreaction? Leverage and Mergers and Acquisitions," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, March.
    4. Song, Moon H. & Walkling, Ralph A., 2005. "Anticipation, Acquisitions and Bidder Returns," Working Paper Series 2005-11, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    5. Gary Gorton & Matthias Kahl & Richard Rosen, 2005. "Eat or Be Eaten: A Theory of Mergers and Merger Waves," NBER Working Papers 11364, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Erik E. Lehmann & Manuel T. Schwerdtfeger, 2016. "Evaluation of IPO-firm takeovers: an event study," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 921-938, December.
    7. Shantanu Dutta & Vinod Kumar, 2009. "Mergers and Acquisitions (M&AS) by R&D Intensive Firms," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-37, December.
    8. 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.
    9. Elif Akben Selcuk & Halil Kiymaz, 2015. "The Impact Of Diversifying Acquisitions On Shareholder Wealth: Evidence From Turkish Acquirers," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 9(3), pages 19-32.
    10. Dimitrova, Lora, 2017. "Perverse incentives of special purpose acquisition companies, the “poor man's private equity funds”," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 99-120.
    11. Robert L Conn & Andy Cosh & Paul M Guest & Alan Hughes, 2003. "The Impact on U.K. Acquirers of Domestic, Cross-border, Public and Private Acquisitions," Working Papers wp276, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    12. Mufaddal Baxamusa & Dobrina Georgieva, 2015. "Two-step acquisitions and liquidity spread," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 39(2), pages 262-287, April.
    13. Nababan, Tongam Sihol & Nababan, Sere Eva & Tampubolon, Bantu, 2005. "Analysis of Relationship Between Market Reactions and Long Term Performance on Acquisitions," MPRA Paper 49110, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Jory, Surendranath R. & Madura, Jeff & Ngo, Thanh N., 2012. "Deal structure decision in the global market for divested assets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 104-116.
    15. Dutta, Shantanu & Jog, Vijay, 2009. "The long-term performance of acquiring firms: A re-examination of an anomaly," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1400-1412, August.
    16. Patricia M. Danzon & Andrew Epstein & Sean Nicholson, 2007. "Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4-5), pages 307-328.
    17. Campa, Jose Manuel & Hernando, Ignacio, 2006. "M&As performance in the European financial industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(12), pages 3367-3392, December.
    18. Perepeczo Agnieszka, 2007. "Event Study in the Evaluation of Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 107-122, January.
    19. Dutta, Shantanu & Saadi, Samir & Zhu, PengCheng, 2013. "Does payment method matter in cross-border acquisitions?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 91-107.
    20. Lublóy, Ágnes & Tóth, Eszter, 2010. "A közép-kelet-európai bankfúziók eredményessége [The success of the bank mergers in Central Eastern Europe]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 37-58.
    21. Jerry Coakley & Stavroula Iliopoulou, 2006. "Bidder CEO and Other Executive Compensation in UK M&As," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(4), pages 609-631, September.
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    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

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