Commentary: Success and Failure of Mergers and Acquisitions
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Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are strategic actions that are on the minds of many managers because they claim that M&As are value enhancing through a variety of sources, such as economies of scale and/or scope from the combined organization and the elimination of poor managerial practice. Regardless of the justification, managers argue that the result of M&As is greater efficiency and, ultimately, an increase in value for the acquiring company. The empirical evidence does not uniformly support managers’ claims. In fact, an abundance of empirical research has examined the performance of acquirers across all industries and in general has failed to find consistent evidence of improvements in value after the acquisition. However, some M&As are value enhancing. For example, the limited empirical evidence in the lodging industry shows that M&As are successful on average (Yang, Qu, & Kim, 2009; also see Chapter 43).