Lessons from the flipside: How do acquirers learn from divestitures to complete acquisitions?

We examine whether experience from prior divestitures is associated with higher completion likelihood in subsequent acquisitions. We argue that through divestitures, firms could extract meaningful knowledge that is helpful for completing their acquisitions, such as a general understanding of acquisi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Đoàn, Thu Trang, Sahib, PadmaRao, Witteloostuijn, Arjenvan
Other Authors: Khoa Quốc tế, ĐHQGHN
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/VNU_123/64798
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Vietnam National University, Hanoi
Language: English
Description
Summary:We examine whether experience from prior divestitures is associated with higher completion likelihood in subsequent acquisitions. We argue that through divestitures, firms could extract meaningful knowledge that is helpful for completing their acquisitions, such as a general understanding of acquisition deal-making stages, and the stories and aims of the target in an M&A transaction. In addition, viewing divestitures as the flipside of acquisitions, we conjecture that the selling firm can observe how the divested component of their business is acquired, and vicariously learn from these observations. We also investigate the relative importance of learning from divestiture vis-à-vis acquisition experience in determining acquisition deal completion. Finally, we contend that the effect of learning from divestitures on acquisition deal completion depends on acquisition experience and deal value. We find evidence supporting our conjectures in a sample of 2164 M&A transactions from the worldwide computer and printing industries between 1991 and 2010.