In recent years, acquisition made by distressed firms have become economically important. This paper explores the rationale behind such acquisitions using a natural experiment. Exploiting a recent tax change, which reduces debt restructuring costs for certain creditors and decreases bankruptcy...

In a comprehensive sample of mergers and acquisitions, we find a reference price effect: Acquirers earn higher (lower) announcement-period returns when their pre-announcement stock prices are well below (near) their 52-week highs. This reference price effect is stronger in acquisitions of...

This study examines whether acquirers make better acquisition decisions when target firms' financial statements exhibit greater comparability with industry peer firms. We predict and find that acquirers make more profitable acquisition decisions when target firms' financial statements are more...

In this study, we empirically test “quiet life hypothesis,” which predicts that managers who are subject to weak monitoring from the shareholders avoid making difficult decisions such as risky investment and business restructuring with Japanese firm data. We employ cross-shareholder and...

We examine the role of non-venture private equity firms in the market for divested businesses, comparing targets bought by such firms to those bought by corporate acquirers. We argue that a combination of vigilant monitoring, high-powered incentives, patient capital and business independence...

I develop a model of mergers in which M&A deals are used to reallocate investment opportunities. In equilibrium, acquirers lack internal growth options and seek out projects from targets in the M&A market. The model is able to reconcile many features of the merger data that I document, including...

The flows-to-equity method is often used to value highly leveraged projects, or transactions, where debt typically amortises over time according to a fixed schedule. This requires a formula that links the changing leverage over time with a time-varying equity discount rate. We show that the...

The paper establishes the salience of the target's 52-week high price as a reference price, while determining the offer premium in Indian merger & acquisition (tender offer) deals, after controlling for the regulatory requirements in India. The SEBI Regulation, Substantial Acquisition of Shares...

We study corporate tax avoidance and associated real effects of private equity buyouts.Exploiting over 10,000 deals and private firm data in Europe, we document that target firms' effective tax rates decrease by 13% after the transaction. Those targets engaging in significant post-deal tax...