This paper is the first one that uses a panel data of different types of shareholder protection in order to examine (i) the effect of such laws on stock market development and (ii) the convergence of shareholder protection laws through cross-border mergers and acquisitions. We find significant...

Hostile takeovers are usually conceived as open market transactions to dispersed shareholders, who have to make a decision on complex issues within a short timeframe. Aside from the simple fact that shareholders have a right to sell their shares, the risks takeovers present to market integrity...

Do leveraged buyout transactions increase the chance of bankruptcy? While corporate finance theory predicts that such sharp changes in capital structure increase financial distress costs by raising the probability of bankruptcy for each company, previous studies seem to fail to find any...

Firms that buy assets in fire sales earn excess returns that are two percentage points higher than in regular acquisitions. The mechanism behind this result is the reduced bargaining power of the seller. We find no difference in real effects or in the combined returns for buyers and sellers...

In this paper, we study a large sample of Spanish firms acquired by private equity funds in leveraged buyout transactions. Leveraged buyouts are controversial in the U.S., yet European researchers link leveraged buyouts and growth. We argue that growth is merely industry consolidation, not...

Core institutions of UK corporate governance, in particular those relating to takeovers, board structure and directors' duties, are strongly orientated towards a norm of shareholder primacy. Beyond the core, in particular at the intersection of insolvency and employment law, stakeholder...

This note, on the basis of a review of the current law related to disclosure of acquisition of claims against distressed companies and the proposals for regulation of this area, argues that no new (legislative) regulation is necessary, as the market tends to regulate itself, under the...