The Intangibles Song in Takeover Announcements: Good Tempo, Hollow Tune

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Filipovic, Zoran M.; Wagner, Alexander F.
• 署名单位: Universite PSL; Universite Paris-Dauphine; University of Zurich; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; European Corporate Governance Institute; Swiss Finance Institute (SFI)
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0893-9454; 1465-7368
• DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhaf116
• 发表日期: 2026-07
• 页码: 2261-2315
• 关键词: G14; G34; G41; M-AND-A; free cash flow; ceo overconfidence; information asymmetry; Textual analysis; AGENCY COSTS; merger; acquisitions; incentives; disclosure

摘要

Mergers and acquisitions are often motivated by an intention to create value from intangible assets. We develop a word list of intangibles and apply it to takeover announcements. One standard deviation more in intangible-related language (intangibles talk) lowers announcement returns for the acquirer by 0.53 percentage points and predicts worse operating performance. Bidder managers appear to believe in the deals nonetheless, as evidenced by insider trades, payment choices, and completion probabilities and speed. Overall, takeover announcement texts reveal important information about hard-to-measure aspects of deal quality.