In the standard regression of bidder announcement returns (ACARs) on bidder size in US data from 1981-2014, the coefficient on bidder size is positive and significant (0.5, t = 3.9) when the target is a public firm, where the average ACAR is negative (−1.4%); but it is negative and significant...

In contrast to recent criticisms, we find that acquirer overvaluation (still) leads to more stock payment in M&As as predicted by the bidder opportunism hypothesis. Employing the Stambaugh, Yu and Yuan (2015) mispricing score to identify bidder misvaluation, we show that overvaluation is one of...