Overcoming institutional challenges in cross-border acquisitions: how home- and host-country acquisition experiences shorten the deal completion phase
ISSN: 1525-383X
Article publication date: 1 March 2022
Issue publication date: 30 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the institutional theory and organizational learning literature, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between prior acquisition experience and the duration of the deal completion stage in cross-border acquisitions and the impacts of the quality of business institutions in the host country and the institutional distance between home and host countries on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the sixth wave of mergers and acquisitions, the first truly global wave that covered a wide range of institutional settings, to test the hypotheses. Using a panel data regression method, it analyzes 8,175 cross-border acquisitions from 2003 to 2009, conducted by acquirers from 47 advanced and emerging economies in 56 advanced and emerging economies.
Findings
This study finds that host-country acquisition experience has more impact on shortening deal completion duration. Home-country acquisition experience is more effective in host countries with less developed business institutions than in those with more developed ones. The results of this study show that the quality of business institutions in the host country and the institutional distance between the home and host countries amplify or attenuate the effect of past acquisition experiences, depending on their origin and the quality of business institutions and institutional distance of where they are used.
Originality/value
The growing popularity of cross-border acquisitions among emerging country acquirers calls for a systemic study of the cross-border acquisition process. One of the critical and less understood stages in this process is the deal completion stage. This study examines how the institutional environments in the home and host countries impact the effectiveness of past acquisition experiences on shortening this stage.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Tazeeb Rajwani and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments and terrific support throughout the review process.
Citation
Soleimani, A. and Yang, K.M. (2022), "Overcoming institutional challenges in cross-border acquisitions: how home- and host-country acquisition experiences shorten the deal completion phase", Multinational Business Review, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 410-433. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-03-2021-0024
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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