Alternative Investing
New Evidence and Perspectives on Mergers
January 1, 2001
Topics - Alternative Investing
Empirical research has revealed a great deal about mergers and acquisitions trends and characteristics over the last century. But on the issue of why mergers occur, research success has been more limited.
Economic theory has provided many possible reasons for why mergers might occur: efficiency-related reasons that often involve economies of scale or other “synergies”; attempts to create market power, perhaps by forming monopolies or oligopolies; market discipline, as in the case of the removal of incompetent target management; self-serving attempts by acquirer management to “overexpand” and other agency costs; and to take advantage of opportunities for diversification, like by exploiting internal capital markets and managing risk for undiversified managers.
In this paper, we provide evidence that merger activity in the 1990s, as in previous decades, strongly clusters by industry. Furthermore, we show that one particular kind of industry shock, deregulation, while important in previous periods, becomes a dominant factor in merger and acquisition activity after the late 1980s and accounts for nearly half of the merger activity since then. We can say without exaggeration or hyperbole that in explaining the causes of mergers and acquisitions, the 1990s were the “decade of deregulation.”
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The information contained herein is only as current as of the date indicated, and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. Charts and graphs provided herein are for illustrative purposes only. The information in this presentation has been developed internally and/or obtained from sources believed to be reliable; however, neither AQR nor the author guarantees the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of such information. Nothing contained herein constitutes investment, legal, tax or other advice nor is it to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. There can be no assurance that an investment strategy will be successful. Historic market trends are not reliable indicators of actual future market behavior or future performance of any particular investment which may differ materially, and should not be relied upon as such. Diversification does not eliminate the risk of experiencing investment losses.
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