The Merger Mystery

Statistical studies over the last forty-five years show that, although there are success stories, very many mergers and acquisitions do not result in the increased operating profits that economics textbooks would lead one to expect. As consultancy McKinsey have put it, ‘Anyone who has researched mer...

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Ngā kaituhi matua: Meeks, Geoff, Meeks, J. Gay
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Reo:Ingarihi
I whakaputaina: Open Book Publishers 2022
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Urunga tuihono:OCN: 1334007344
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author Meeks, Geoff
Meeks, J. Gay
author_browse Meeks, Geoff
Meeks, J. Gay
author_facet Meeks, Geoff
Meeks, J. Gay
author_sort Meeks, Geoff
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Statistical studies over the last forty-five years show that, although there are success stories, very many mergers and acquisitions do not result in the increased operating profits that economics textbooks would lead one to expect. As consultancy McKinsey have put it, ‘Anyone who has researched merger success rates knows that roughly 70% fail’. Yet—mysteriously—M&A activity has boomed across the globe, with a forty-fold increase in deals done each year now compared with four decades ago, in spite of the adverse general evidence. How can it be that talented, energetic, highly skilled, law-abiding, income-maximising participants in the M&A market will often promote mergers that lead to no operating gains, frequently with adverse effects on the wider economy too? Drawing on findings from a wealth of statistical analyses and case evidence from many businesses, the book presents answers to this merger mystery. In a synthesis of ideas from several disciplines, solutions are detected in misaligned incentives, distorted financial engineering and information asymmetry. By revealing how weaknesses at multiple points can interact and cumulate to produce inefficient outcomes, the discussion serves as a corrective to the overwhelmingly positive tone of most commentary on M&A, whilst also advocating changes in participants’ contracts, in taxation, and in regulation which could significantly reduce the number of mergers that fail. Designed to be accessible to a wide readership, the book will be of interest to investors, to M&A practitioners and commentators, to researchers and students of economics, political economy, finance, management and accounting, and—importantly—to policy makers working in these areas.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-846982025-03-16T19:12:42Z The Merger Mystery Meeks, Geoff Meeks, J. Gay case evidence;financial engineering;incentives;mergers and acquisitions;statistical analysis Textbook Statistical studies over the last forty-five years show that, although there are success stories, very many mergers and acquisitions do not result in the increased operating profits that economics textbooks would lead one to expect. As consultancy McKinsey have put it, ‘Anyone who has researched merger success rates knows that roughly 70% fail’. Yet—mysteriously—M&A activity has boomed across the globe, with a forty-fold increase in deals done each year now compared with four decades ago, in spite of the adverse general evidence. How can it be that talented, energetic, highly skilled, law-abiding, income-maximising participants in the M&A market will often promote mergers that lead to no operating gains, frequently with adverse effects on the wider economy too? Drawing on findings from a wealth of statistical analyses and case evidence from many businesses, the book presents answers to this merger mystery. In a synthesis of ideas from several disciplines, solutions are detected in misaligned incentives, distorted financial engineering and information asymmetry. By revealing how weaknesses at multiple points can interact and cumulate to produce inefficient outcomes, the discussion serves as a corrective to the overwhelmingly positive tone of most commentary on M&A, whilst also advocating changes in participants’ contracts, in taxation, and in regulation which could significantly reduce the number of mergers that fail. Designed to be accessible to a wide readership, the book will be of interest to investors, to M&A practitioners and commentators, to researchers and students of economics, political economy, finance, management and accounting, and—importantly—to policy makers working in these areas. 2022-06-28T04:03:01Z 2022-06-28T04:03:01Z 2022-06-27T14:57:24Z 2022 book OCN: 1334007344 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/57119 9781800647794 9781800647800 9781800647824 9781800647831 9781800647848 9781800647855 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/84698 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/57119/1/9781800647817.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/57119/1/9781800647817.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/57119/1/9781800647817.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/57119/1/9781800647817.pdf Open Book Publishers 10.11647/OBP.0309 10.11647/OBP.0309 b014b543-78bd-4c3b-bc71-b68e2ac855b9 9781800647794 9781800647800 9781800647824 9781800647831 9781800647848 9781800647855 ScholarLed 180 Cambridge open access
spellingShingle case evidence;financial engineering;incentives;mergers and acquisitions;statistical analysis
Textbook
Meeks, Geoff
Meeks, J. Gay
The Merger Mystery
title The Merger Mystery
title_full The Merger Mystery
title_fullStr The Merger Mystery
title_full_unstemmed The Merger Mystery
title_short The Merger Mystery
title_sort merger mystery
topic case evidence;financial engineering;incentives;mergers and acquisitions;statistical analysis
Textbook
topic_facet case evidence;financial engineering;incentives;mergers and acquisitions;statistical analysis
Textbook
url OCN: 1334007344
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