Bidder-Specific Synergies and the Evolution of Acquirer Returns

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Dessaint, Olivier; Eckbo, B. Espen; Golubov, Andrey
• 署名单位: INSEAD Business School; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Dartmouth College; Norwegian School of Economics (NHH); European Corporate Governance Institute; University of Toronto
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.02208
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Mergers and acquisitions; Acquirer returns; bidder-specific synergies; bidder uniqueness

摘要

Largely constant average acquirer returns over the past four decades mask fundamental changes in the takeover market. Controlling for bidder composition, the common component of acquirer returns has increased by five percentage points relative to the 1980s. Offsetting this increase, the average bidder-specific component has declined. We propose a theory of bidder-specific synergies to help interpret these opposing trends. In our theory and in the data, acquirer returns increase with the extent to which synergies are unique to that bidder. The composition effect reflects bidder uniqueness. Overall, the evidence is consistent with rising merger synergies that have become less bidder specific.