TY - JOUR
T1 - Prior alliances with targets and acquisition performance in knowledge-intensive industries
AU - Zaheer, Akbar
AU - Hernandez, Exequiel
AU - Banerjee, Sanjay
PY - 2010/9
Y1 - 2010/9
N2 - An important focus of the research on mergers and acquisitions is the conditions under which acquisitions create value for the acquiring firm's shareholders. Given that the acquisition process is plagued by serious issues of information asymmetry, which are exacerbated in the context of knowledge acquisitions, we examine whether prior alliances with potential targets reduce the information asymmetry enough to create "partner-specific absorptive capacity" and yield superior stock returns on acquisition, compared with acquisitions not preceded by alliances. We test our hypotheses on a sample of high-technology acquisitions by U.S. firms during 1990-1998 using an event study methodology to assess abnormal stock returns. We find, unexpectedly, that no significant general effect emerges for acquisitions with prior alliances. However, international acquisitions following alliances show significantly better returns relative to both acquisitions without prior alliances and domestic acquisitions. Additionally, stronger forms of prior alliances lead to better acquisition performance than weaker forms of alliances. Together, the results broadly support our thesis that partner-specific absorptive capacity may be at work and suggest that under certain prior alliance conditions, acquisitions can indeed create value for acquirers.
AB - An important focus of the research on mergers and acquisitions is the conditions under which acquisitions create value for the acquiring firm's shareholders. Given that the acquisition process is plagued by serious issues of information asymmetry, which are exacerbated in the context of knowledge acquisitions, we examine whether prior alliances with potential targets reduce the information asymmetry enough to create "partner-specific absorptive capacity" and yield superior stock returns on acquisition, compared with acquisitions not preceded by alliances. We test our hypotheses on a sample of high-technology acquisitions by U.S. firms during 1990-1998 using an event study methodology to assess abnormal stock returns. We find, unexpectedly, that no significant general effect emerges for acquisitions with prior alliances. However, international acquisitions following alliances show significantly better returns relative to both acquisitions without prior alliances and domestic acquisitions. Additionally, stronger forms of prior alliances lead to better acquisition performance than weaker forms of alliances. Together, the results broadly support our thesis that partner-specific absorptive capacity may be at work and suggest that under certain prior alliance conditions, acquisitions can indeed create value for acquirers.
KW - Acquisition performance
KW - Alliances
KW - Information asymmetry
KW - Knowledge-intensive industries
KW - Mergers and acquisitions
KW - Partner-specific absorptive capacity
KW - Strong alliances
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77957047154&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77957047154&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1287/orsc.1100.0528
DO - 10.1287/orsc.1100.0528
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77957047154
SN - 1047-7039
VL - 21
SP - 1072
EP - 1091
JO - Organization Science
JF - Organization Science
IS - 5
ER -