Factors Affecting Completion Duration of Global Mergers and Acquisitions of Korean Firms

Though many studies related to the duration of post-merger and acquisition integration have been conducted, there are very few recent literatures on the completion duration after the announcement of mergers and acquisition. This study analyzed the global mergers and acquisitions of South Korean corporations to identify the factors that determine the completion duration of the transactions after disclosure has been made. The data for this study was obtained from Zephyr (2014). Among the 1,803 cases, a total of 760 cases were used for the investigation after excluding the banking industry and private investors. The results showed that the duration of global mergers and acquisitions increases with the institutional stability of the country where the acquired corporation is located, the accumulation of global experiences, the industry relevance of the concerned corporations, the presence of advisory groups in acquiring corporations, and the merger/ acquisition in the same industry sector. In contrast, the completion duration of global mergers and acquisitions decreases when the number of corporations jointly participating and the desired takeover ratio are higher. The methods of payment do not affect the completion duration of global mergers and acquisitions. The study suggested various aspects of the deal specific factors and the nature of the acquiring and target corporations that are crucial in determining the completion duration