merge and post-merger value creation and synergies? We compile comprehensive information on U.S. bank acquisitions from 1986 …

We study optimal merger policy in a dynamic model in which the presence of scale economies implies that firms can … the period the merger is proposed. We also find that the ability to commit can lead to a significant welfare improvement …

industry merger and acquisition activity. All of these effects are stronger for smaller firms than for larger firms …

after merger announcement, the passage of time is informative about the probability that the merger will ultimately complete …

measuring the long-run returns to mergers. In a new data set of close bidding contests we use losers' post-merger performance to … closely comoving in the years before the contest, providing support for our approach to identification. After the merger, they … international sample. Merger characteristics commonly associated with underperformance, such as acquiror size, acquiror Q, or stock …

Cash- and stock-financed takeover bids induce strikingly different target revaluations. We exploit detailed data on … unsuccessful takeover bids between 1980 and 2008, and show that targets of cash offers are revalued on average by +15% after deal … longer horizons. We find no evidence that future takeover activities or operational changes explain these differences. While …

change: internally precipitated management turnover, hostile takeover, and friendly takeover. We find that firms experiencing … is also weaker evidence that hostile takeover targets underperform their industry peers. We interpret this evidence as … relative to industry, but that an external challenge in the form of a hostile takeover is often required when the whole …

Compared to an average Fortune 500 firm, a target of a hostile takeover is smaller, older, has a lower Tobin's Q … results suggest that the motive for a takeover often determines its mood. Thus disciplinary takeovers are more often hostile …