We analyze the characteristics of transactions in a comprehensive set of mergers and acquisitions based on SDC data from 1992 through 2009. We do not impose restrictions found in previous empirical work such as excluding private bidders, small targets or those deals with no target value...

Although the SEC's main charge is to ensure the disclosure of material information, it has not always consistently defined materiality. We show that acquisitions of privately-held targets classified as “insignificant” by the SEC appreciably affect market prices, and therefore are material by...

We show that acquirer returns are significantly higher in stock-swap acquisitions of difficult-to-value targets, as measured by Ramp;D intensity and idiosyncratic return volatility. This finding contributes to an explanation of the determinants of, and value gains from, using stock as a method...

We examine acquisitions of private firms with valuation histories and find a positive relation between acquirer announcement returns and target valuation revisions. Similar to other studies, acquirer announcement returns are positive, on average. However, positive acquirer announcement returns...

We study the movement of assets from private to public ownership through two alternative means: the acquisition of private companies by firms that are public (sellouts) or by initial public share offerings (IPOs). We consider firm-specific characteristics for 1,074 IPOs and 735 sellouts from...

Voting rights are a basic shareholder-protection mechanism. Outside of the core voting requirements state law imposes (election of directors and votes on fundamental changes), federal law grants shareholders additional voting rights. But these rights introduce concomitant costs into corporate...

We study takeover sequences that contain at least five acquisitions made by an individual acquirer over a period greater than 12 months with no two acquisitions separated by more than 24 months. Acquisitions made in the context of such sequences represent more than 25% of takeover activity by...

We examine the impact of the Global Settlement on affiliation bias in analyst recommendations. Using a broad measure of investment bank-firm relationships, we find a substantial reduction in analyst affiliation bias following the settlement for sanctioned banks. In contrast, we find strong...

This article has two related tasks. First, we review the articles published in this Special Issue on Corporate Control, Mergers, and Acquisitions. These articles provide new evidence on several aspects of corporate control and governance including the value and performance effects of various...

Although the SEC's main charge is to ensure the disclosure of material information, the SEC has not always consistently defined materiality. We show that acquisitions of privately-held targets classified as quot;insignificantquot; by the SEC appreciably affect market prices, and therefore are...