Some bidders voluntarily announce a merger negotiation before the definitive agreement. We propose an “announce-to-signal” explanation to these early announcements: they allow bidders to signal to target shareholders high synergies so as to overcome negotiation frictions and improve success...

We examine the role of IPOs as a source of financing by comparing firms from countries with different degrees of stock market development. Focusing on acquisition investments, our results suggest that firms operating in economies with a more developed stock market extract more benefits from the...

In the 1990s, European merger regulation (EMR) was biased against foreign acquirers, especially if the deal harmed domestic rivals (i.e., protectionism). In 2002, the Court of First Instance overturned three prohibitions by the European Commission (EC) and criticized its economic analysis. These...

This article revisits the protectionism hypothesis related to the European merger regulation (EMR). In the 1990s, EMR was biased against foreign acquirers, especially if the deal harmed domestic rivals (i.e., protectionism). At the end of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st, the...

This study examines whether the content of firms' Security Exchange Commission (SEC) filings submitted for their merger and acquisition transactions are affected by investor reactions to the initial public announcement of the deals. This research design allows us to test the investor feedback...

This paper provides insights into the inner workings of internal corporate M&A teams using survey evidence from 65 firms from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. We find that internal teams create value, especially relative to external advisors, by directing transaction rationales, screening...

As a result of increased information production and aggregation, acquiring companies may make merger decisions based on valuable information they extract from public markets. This paper examines acquisitions by target status and suggests a novel source of information for industry firms – the...

This article studies European acquisitions in the period 1990-2013 to examine the relationship between family ownership and the propensity to undertake diversifying acquisitions. We show that family firms, especially those highly leveraged, tend to make more cross-industry acquisitions as this...