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Merger arbitrage short selling and price pressure

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  • Liu, Tingting
  • Wu, Juan (Julie)

Abstract

We evaluate the over-valuation hypothesis and merger arbitrage price pressure hypothesis as potential explanations for the observed negative returns to stock acquirers around merger announcement. Using daily shorting flow data, we show that the majority of the negative announcement returns can be attributed to price pressure induced by merger arbitrage short selling. Additional analysis of shorting activity and associated returns for floating-exchange-ratio stock acquirers at deal closings and among withdrawn stock deals further supports merger arbitrage price pressure explanation. We also find merger arbitrage activity increases with estimated arbitrage spread on a daily basis. As a whole, the results suggest that merger arbitrageurs play a critical role in stock mergers.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Tingting & Wu, Juan (Julie), 2014. "Merger arbitrage short selling and price pressure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 36-54.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:27:y:2014:i:c:p:36-54
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2014.04.006
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    Cited by:

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    3. Hackney, John & Henry, Tyler R. & Koski, Jennifer L., 2020. "Arbitrage vs. informed short selling: Evidence from convertible bond issuers," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Kryzanowski, Lawrence & Nie, Yulin (George), 2019. "M&A price pressure revisited," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 299-308.
    5. Archana Jain & Chinmay Jain & Ashok Robin, 2020. "Does accounting conservatism deter short sellers?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 1075-1100, April.
    6. Jie (Jack) He & Tingting Liu & Jeffry Netter & Tao Shu, 2020. "Expectation Management in Mergers and Acquisitions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1205-1226, March.
    7. Huili Chen & Ying Chen & Bin Lin & Yanchao Wang, 2019. "Can short selling improve internal control? An empirical study based on the difference‐in‐differences model," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(5), pages 1233-1259, March.
    8. Dutordoir, Marie & Strong, Norman C. & Sun, Ping, 2022. "Does short-selling potential influence merger and acquisition payment choice?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 761-779.
    9. Wang, Heng Emily & Wang, Qin Emma & Wu, Wentao, 2022. "Short selling surrounding data breach announcements," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Merger arbitrage; Short selling; Mergers and acquisitions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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