Over 20 years, M&A contracts have more than doubled in size – from 35 to 88 single-spaced pages in this paper's font. They have also grown significantly in linguistic complexity – from post-graduate “grade 20” to post-doctoral “grade 30”. A substantial portion (lower bound ~20%) of...

Given the frequency and its important value implication of post-IPO M&A activity, we investigate empirically whether investors can utilize information based on IPO deal structure to predict merger and acquisition activity among newly public firms. Consistent with the hypothesis that some firms...

Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) IPOs boomed starting in 2020. While SPAC IPO investors have earned 12.0% per year, returns for investors in merged companies are more complex. They have earned -7.3% in the first year on common shares but 64.4% on warrants. We rationalize why certain...

In this study we examine how Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) were used as a financing tool for companies in the shipping industry in period 2004-2011. We confirm that SPACs focused on acquisitions in the shipping industry have similar characteristics as the population of SPACs...

In this study, we examine characteristics of Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) used as a financing tool for companies from China in period 2004-2011. We offer the evidence that, similarly to evidence from studies on reverse mergers focusing on China, SPACs that focus on China are...

This paper studies how institutional characteristics of Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are related to their post-merger survival. SPACs are unique financial firms that conduct the IPO with the solely purpose to use the proceeds to acquire another private company. Paper finds...

This paper analyzes Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) in Europe. We document various aspects associated with European SPACs by using a unique and hand-collected data sample encompassing all 19 SPACs which have been listed on European stock exchanges since 2005. The paper shows that...

We examine the role of placement agents in private investments in public equity (PIPE) deals of firms that went public via a reverse merger (RM). We find that reputable placement agents with greater expertise (expert agents) help RM firms to complete their PIPE deals in a smaller number of...

We examine whether, how, and why acquirer shareholder voting matters. We show that acquirers with low institutional ownership, high deal risk, and high agency costs are more likely to bypass shareholder voting. Such acquirers have lower announcement returns and make higher offers than those who...