Do cross-border mergers and acquisitions increase short-term market performance? The case of Chinese firms

Despite the new momentum in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by emerging market firms, we have a limited understanding of the impact of these activities. Drawing on signalling theory and the institution-based view, this paper examines the extent of stock market reactions to the announcement of cross-border M&A deals, based on an event study of a sample of Chinese firms during the period 2000–2012. The findings indicate that the announcement of cross-border M&As results in a positive stock market reaction; this effect is more significant in the mainland Chinese stock markets (Shanghai and Shenzhen) than that in the Hong Kong market. The shareholders of Chinese firms that acquire a target firm in a host country with a low level of political risk gain higher cumulative abnormal returns than those firms targeting companies in countries with a high level of political risk. The shareholders of Chinese state-owned enterprises experience lower abnormal returns compared with those of Chinese privately owned firms when engaging in cross-border M&A deals.     

Is corporate governance important for regulated firms’ shareholders?: Evidence from Japanese mergers and acquisitions

This paper compares the reaction of bidders’ stock prices to acquisition announcements by regulated non-financial firms, banks, and unregulated companies in Japan. Results suggest that regulated non-financial firms do not experience a significant stock price response at merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements, although banks’ and unregulated firms’ M&A announcements are regarded favorably by the stock market. Furthermore, the effect of stock option usage and strict boards on the stock price response is weak for regulated non-financial bidders. The results provide additional evidence that regulation results in managerial decisions’ having less influence on shareholder wealth and thereby changes the firm's optimal governance structure. In contrast, the results provide no clear evidence that, for bank bidders, there is a significantly stronger or weaker relationship between governance and the stock price response to an M&A announcement than that of unregulated firms or regulated non-financial firms. The result does not support the view that regulatory monitoring weakens the effect of ordinary governance mechanisms.     

Who bears the burden of international taxation? Evidence from cross-border M&As

Cross-border M&As can trigger additional taxation of the target's income in the form of non-resident dividend withholding taxes and acquirer-country corporate income taxation. This paper finds that this additional international taxation is fully capitalized into lower takeover premiums. In contrast, acquirer excess stock market returns around the bid announcement date do not appear to reflect additional taxation of the target's income. These findings suggest that international taxation is considered to be burdensome and that the incidence of this taxation is primarily on target-firm shareholders.     

股利政策信息结构与股价行为研究

通过构建股利政策信息结构和时空两维股利信息模型,研究中国上市公司不同股利政策的信息结构、信息环境及其对波动性、市场深度和流动性等股价行为的影响。研究发现现金股利政策公告前,没有发现显著的信息性交易行为;股票股利政策公告前后,市场信息结构没有发生显著的变化;不分配利润的企业在公告前,出现了显著的由信息引起的交易行为;公司发布股利政策不仅能够传递公司价值的信息,而且公司价值信息的传递还与市场所处的信息环境密切相关,不同的信息环境、信息结构影响了信息作用于市场变量的变化路径。     

The stock market performance of exploration-oriented and exploitation-oriented cross-border mergers and acquisitions: Evidence from emerging market enterprises

This study builds on insights from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) studies and the perspective that stock market performance is affected by the M&A strategies of firms. Past studies show that acquisitions are an effective way to exploit existing knowledge and explore new possibilities. We argue that stock market performance can be a response to exploration/exploitation strategies in the context of cross-border M&As by emerging market multinationals. Based on cross-border M&A data of Chinese multinationals, we find that exploration-oriented acquisitions have worse stock market performance than exploitation-oriented acquisitions. Furthermore, we find support for our premise that acquiring firms can reduce the risk of exploration-oriented acquisitions by having more high-discretion slack resources or by maintaining a high level of equity share of the target firm. In addition, acquiring firms perform better if they conduct exploration-oriented acquisitions in related industries. Our results contribute to a better understanding of exploration and exploitation in the context of M&As.     

An examination of the impact of equity carve-outs on stockholder and bondholder wealth

This study provides a comprehensive initial evaluation of the wealth transfer hypothesis as applied to the carve-out announcement and partial IPO on stockholders and bondholders from 1983 to 2002. Using daily security prices we show that such combinations have multi-faceted wealth transfers and wealth creation. Consistent with existing theory, we observe a wealth increase for stockholders and bondholders in the carve-out announcement period. In the carve-out period, we report a wealth loss for parent stockholders and bondholders, but a gain for subsidiary stockholders.     

Post-M&A technological capability-building of emerging market firms in China: the case of Lenovo

Technological acquisitions have become a strong motivation for cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) activities by firms in emerging countries. However, whether these companies achieve their objectives remains an open question. This article presents a case study of Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM’s PC division with a focus on inventor productivity after acquisition. Our case study suggests that while a ‘light-touch’ integration approach helped avoid the all-too-common post-M&A productivity drop, intra-firm knowledge transfers to veteran inventors of the acquirers remained difficult due to the knowledge gap. However, M&A events create other opportunities to improve the technological capability of the acquiring company by sourcing new talent globally, offering unignorable merit that justifies outbound M&A activities by emerging market firms.     

Merger and acquisition evaluation and decision making model

Based on three merger and acquisition (M&A) methods and applying multiple-criteria decision making, the purpose of this paper is to establish an M&A evaluation model. The decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) results show that the three business M&A methods possess interactive effect and self-feedback relationships. This study utilizes the analytic network process to calculate the weights of seven evaluation criteria; expected stock dividend is ranked as the most important criterion, followed by stock price/earnings per share, stock dividend growth, sales/market capitalization ratio, discount rate, replacement value, and liquidation value. This study uses Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) to evaluate the performance of three Taiwanese banks. The results show that Bank B is the best M&A investment choice. Finally, the study establishes a comprehensive M&A decision making evaluation model.     

我国上市公司资产出售的公告效应研究

文章以1999-2004年间185家企业226次资产出售事件为样本,检验了我国上市公司资产出售的公告效应,并对2008-2009年间我国上市公司的资产出售进行了稳健性检验.研究发现,我国企业的资产出售具有明显的年中和年末效应；企业股价对资产出售的反应显著为正,尤其是在(-2,0)区间内,资产出售的公告效应得到集中释放.对资产出售公告效应影响因素的检验表明,我国上市公司的资产出售更加符合有效配置假说,融资假说不能解释这种行为.     

Cross‐border M&As by Chinese firms: An analysis of strategic motives and performance

This article considers the strategic motivation and performance of Chinese cross‐border mergerand‐ acquisition (M&A) activities of 27 deals that took place in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets in 2000–2004. The study finds that cross‐border M&As formation by Chinese firms are primarily motivated by market development (that is, increasing market share) to enable faster entry into new markets, promote diversification, and obtain foreign advanced technology and other resources. In terms of wealth creation, the study finds that cross‐border M&As create value for Chinese acquiring firms. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Mergers and Acquisitions and Market Volatility of Brazilian Banking Stocks: An Application of GARCH Models

The main objective of this research was to investigate the impacts caused by announcements of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on the volatility of the returns of Brazilian bank stocks from 1994 to 2015. In order to achieve the proposed objective, this study applied Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) class models to the series to model their volatility. Our results confirmed the impact of the announcement of M&As on volatility. They suggest that M&A announcements are expected to cause a negative reaction if related to an expansion or a deal involving a less-well known bank, and a positive reaction if it involves well-known bank with good reputation—a higher level of confidence and a lower level of information asymmetry for investors.     

Stock Market’s Reaction to Disclosure of Environmental Violations: Evidence from China

The stock market’s reaction to information disclosure of environmental violation events (EVEs) is investigated multi-dimensionally for Chinese listed companies, including variables such as pollution types, information disclosure sources, information disclosure levels, modernization levels of the region where the company locates, ultimate ownership of the company, and ownership held by the largest shareholder. Using the method of event study, daily abnormal return (AR) and accumulative abnormal return (CAR) are calculated under different event window for examining the extent to which the stock market responds to the EVEs. Furthermore, statistical significance of the difference in stock market reaction is compared between event firms with different characteristics. The relationship between CAR and its impact factors is examined by multivariate analysis. The findings reveal that the average reduction in market value is estimated to be much lower than the estimated changes in market value for similar events in other countries, demonstrating that the negative environmental events of Chinese listed companies currently have weak impact on the stock market.     

Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions on Shareholder Wealth: Event Study for Latin American Airlines

This study analyzes the effect of changes in corporate control on the way shareholders benefit from the announcements of selling and buying airlines, thus contributing to the literature on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in emerging markets. Using a methodology of event study, including GARCH and OLS models, we find evidence that some selling companies obtain abnormal returns that are statistically significant after the announcement of the M&A. However, when the merger is not strategic, the companies present statistically significant negative abnormal returns. The results are not conclusive when analyzing the effect on the value of the buying companies.     

Similarities and differences among cross-border M&A and greenfield FDI determinants: Evidence from Asia and Oceania

Firms choose either cross-border M&A or greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) when expanding their operations overseas. In this study, by focusing on Japanese firms pursuing FDI in emerging countries in Asia and Oceania, we provide empirical evidence of the similarities and differences in cross-border M&A and greenfield FDI determinants. We derive the following four main conclusions. First, an increase in host-country population size and decreases in per capita income and corporate tax rates generally attract both inward cross-border M&A and greenfield FDI to the host country. Second, however, a home-country firm tends to choose cross-border M&A rather than greenfield FDI when the host country sufficiently implements shareholder rights laws and the firm tends to choose greenfield FDI rather than cross-border M&A when the host country adequately enforces intellectual property rights laws. Third, a firm tends to choose greenfield FDI when the firm already has regional networks in the host country and choose cross-border M&A when the purpose of the firm's overseas operations is to establish sales distribution channels. Finally, a firm pursuing cross-border M&A experiences higher cumulative abnormal returns in its stock prices following the investment, while a firm pursuing greenfield FDI experiences increases in its stock prices immediately before the investment.     

Corporate social investments: Do they pay?

The stock market reaction to two very different corporate social investments (the 1977 Sullivan Principles adoption announcement and the 1990 McDonald's Corporation environmental statement) is explored. A market model event study methodology is employed using daily stock returns. The results are that the stock market appears to have ignored the 1977 announcement, but rewarded the 1990 event. Future research and possible managerial implications are discussed.Steve McMillan is a doctoral candidate in General and Strategic Management. His research focuses on organizational policies of openness versus secrecy with scientific information, and the management of corporate intangible assets.     

Mimetic isomorphism and its effect on merger and acquisition activities in Taiwanese financial industries

This paper adopts an institutional theory and explores the impact of institutional pressures on mimetic isomorphism in merger and acquisition (M&A) activities. It uses 117 M&A announcements and adopts a logistic regression model to construct a probability model for mimetic isomorphism. This study finds that a firm's own M&A experiences and the frequency of M&A deals are positively correlated with the likelihood that a firm will complete its M&A deal. This paper also utilizes an event study methodology to estimate the excess return around M&A announcements as a proxy for the M&A performance and adopts the OLS regression model to analyse the relation between the imitation and M&A performances. There is a positive relation between the frequency of M&A activities and M&A performances, and a negative relation between a firm's own M&A experiences and M&A performances.     

Product Regulation and Stock Prices: The Case of the US Food and Drug Administration

This study focuses on the stock market effects associated with the announcements of product approvals, denials and recalls by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the impact of product approvals on research and development expenditures (R&D) and forecasts of earnings by Value Line. When the FDA announces approvals, the shareholder wealth of affected firms increases significantly. The announcements of denials and recalls by the FDA are associated with stock price declines. The stock price impact of recalls is dependent on whether the firm voluntarily withdraws a product or if the withdrawal is mandated by the FDA. Specifically, voluntary recalls are not associated with a change in stockholder wealth, while FDA mandated recalls are associated with decreases in stock price. In addition, we find that partial product recalls have a smaller impact than total recalls. An examination of the effects on competitors' stock price reveals losses when the FDA announces an approval or a recall, but no imt for a d. An analysis of changes in risk around FDA decisions suggests that, on average, betas do not change around approvals, recalls or denials. In addition, our results suggest that announcement period stock price behavior is unrelated to risk changes except for approvals where returns are positive and significant for firms with either increasing risk or no change in risk. We also find that approvals are associated with increases in R&D and forecasts of earnings for the sample firms, with returns to stockholders upon announcement of the approval being related to the increases in R&D and short-term earnings forecasts.     

Do Announcements About Corporate Social Responsibility Create or Destroy Shareholder Wealth? Evidence from the UK

This paper investigates the stock market reaction to the announcement that a firm has been included in the UK FTSE4Good index of socially responsible firms. We use the announcement of firm inclusion in the index to estimate the stock market reaction to a firm being classified as socially responsible. This is an important test of whether investors view the undertaking of socially responsible activities by firms as a value increasing or value decreasing initiative by management. We do not find strong evidence in favour of a positive market reaction. However, there is a large cross-sectional variation in the market reaction to this announcement. Investors appear to be reacting to this event and there are a number of firm characteristics that are well-established proxies for CSR that can explain the market reaction.     

Investment opportunities and dividend omissions

This study examines the market's reaction to dividend omission announcements and finds that if dividends are skipped to preserve cash for good investments, investors do not necessarily regard the omission as negative information. Markets penalize firms for dividend omissions only in the absence of a good stream of investments. In addition, the positive relation between investment opportunity and abnormal stock returns around the announcements is stronger when the level of information asymmetry between management and the rest of the market participants is low. Additional tests reveal that good omitters overcome underperformance faster in the post period. Overall, the results suggest that financial markets interpret differently the information conveyed in the announcement of dividend omission depending on the firm's future prospects.     

民营上市公司现金股利信号传递效应实证研究

系统考察股利分配预案公告日我国民营上市公司现金股利信息的信号传递效应,并在研究方法上对我国当前该领域研究中所存在的缺陷进行了弥补。在严格控制了盈余信息、公司规模等因素后,分别对2001-2003年度我国民营上市公司股利分配预案公告日前后样本(除送、配方案之外)的“纯”现金股利分配预案的市场反应进行了分析。结果发现,股利分配预案公告日前后,民营上市公司发放现金股利并没有受到市场排斥,其超常收益显著为正。