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The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that pre-merger identification plays within a post-merger setting. Social Identity Theory (SIT) has conflicting reports on the role that pre-merger identification plays in post-merger integration. The current research explores a case study where enhancing pre-merger identification resulted in positive post-merger identification and intergroup relations; progressing knowledge in the field by analysing the contextual factors that facilitate this outcome.

The research follows a case study design applying integration method for the study of changes over time. Two sets of in-depth semi-structured interviews underwent content analysis to derive thematic findings. Case detail was also provided to frame the results.

Findings of the research showed that the integration strategy used to facilitate pre-merger ingroup identification reduced the perceived status differences between groups, moderately improved ingroup relations, and significantly improved intergroup relations.

For strategic planners involved in managing change during a merger, the findings provide an alternative integration strategy to be used within a joint-brand structure. The research also provides several analysis points that managers can use to design appropriate integration strategies.

The findings are important for the application of SIT to mergers and acquisitions, which commonly view pre-merger identification as a barrier to integration. The current study outlines the contextual factors which strengthen the relationship between pre-merger identity and post-merger identification.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the post‐merger operating performance of acquiring companies involved in merger activities during the period 1999‐2002 in India. It attempts to identify synergies, if any, resulting from mergers.

This paper uses the operating performance approach, which compares the pre‐merger and post‐merger performance of companies using accounting data to examine merger related gains to the acquiring firms.

It is found that the post‐merger profitability, assets turnover and solvency of the acquiring companies, on average, show no improvement when compared with pre‐merger values. So it seems that, contrary to common beliefs and expectations, mergers usually do not lead to improve the acquirer's financial performance.

Further studies may develop some alternate measures of merger‐related gains as financial measures have limitations to capture the full impact of merger on corporate performance. Moreover, a study providing detail insights into the reasons and patterns of post‐merger corporate performance across the types of mergers and industry would be useful.

The results show that mergers are not aimed at maximizing wealth of owners. This result suggests the need for managers to better focus on post‐merger integration issues in order to create merger‐induced synergies, rather than simply acquiring bigger size and achieve hidden objectives.

The value of this research is its extension of the mergers and acquisitions performance research, which has been conducted on mostly American and European firms, to Indian firms.

This study aims to develop a new integrated decision-making framework specifically designed to address complexity and uncertainty for project portfolio management. It particularly focuses on managing portfolios in a post-merger context. The paper portrays a normative and prescriptive approach to effectively creating a well-balanced project portfolio in a post-merger scenario.

This study introduces hyper-project portfolio frame as a prospective methodology for evaluating post-merger portfolios. The proposed method especially addresses the challenges associated with integration following a merger.

Hyper-project portfolio frame provides fundamental leaps in post-merger project portfolios. The frame gives opportunities to check consistency with policy, organizational scalability, flexibility and product diversity. It also underpins achieving the strategic objectives of mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

The literature synthesis is approached from an interpretative standpoint. The research incorporates discussions and comparative studies from the relevant literature and introduces a novel approach. Additionally, new descriptive studies can expand the proposed process-oriented decision-making. Moreover, this research does not consider hostile takeovers.

Nested in content and process-oriented fashion, the frame provides suitable prequalification analysis for portfolios in a post-merger under the concepts of complexity, uncertainty, risk and value.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the post-merger integration duration on acquiring firms’ leverage behavior before and after a merger, using a dynamic model in which full merger benefits cannot be consumed at the instant of a merger, but rather after a pre-specified post-merger integration period.

This paper presents a dynamic model and empirical tests that describe the impact of the post-merger integration period on the capital structure dynamics of the acquiring and target firms before a merger and during the post-merger integration period. By incorporating costs associated with the post-merger integration period, the model can provide new implications for the leverage behavior around the merger.

The model generates new implications related to acquiring firms’ leverage dynamics along with method of payment choice. Specifically, the model indicates that the post-merger integration duration is negatively associated with the market leverage of newly-merged firms at the time of merger completion and during the integration period. Further, acquirer managers are more likely to use equity to finance a merger when the integration duration is likely to be lengthy.

This is the first model in the literature that assumes that both the acquiring and the target firms can change their capital structure overtime, which allows us to analyze both the financing structure and the merger timing. Previous empirical studies also ignore the integration period in the analysis of the method of payment choice and leverage behavior around mergers. In the tests reported in this paper, the authors control for the factors mentioned above and demonstrate that the expected integration duration is not subsumed by those variables implying that it has its own power in explaining the choice of leverage and merger financing method.

A review of extant literatures shows that most mergers fail during the integration process. Little is known about how the realization of operating synergies and dissemination of available know-how in the merged firm are managed in the post-merger phase. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on the process of integrating operating synergies by focusing on the critical success factors that facilitate integration of the skills of merged banks.

The authors draw on three research traditions in merger literature and reconcile them with three dimensions of integration. In-depth interviews were conducted with Nordea managers from four Nordic countries.

Having learned from the mistakes of previous mergers, Nordea’s “guiding star” for managing its post-merger integration process was expressed as focus, speed and performance from top management. A hands-on leadership style, vision-led thinking, a bias for action, involvement of the entire staff, continuous focus on customers, open and honest communication with employees are critical to success.

The motive for a merger has an important impact on the degree of interaction and degree of integration. The authors expand on previous findings by, among other things, synthesizing three theoretical lenses into an integrative model, and addresses post-merger issues with a sharp eye towards clear managerial relevance.

The authors respond to the call to expand inter-firm relationships study beyond the narrow dyadic relationship focus and not solely conceptualize mergers as one of companies’ entry modes to implement mechanistic growth strategy. The three dimensions of integration imbued with three research traditions in merger literature provides us with a conceptual lens to conceive mergers also as engines for change emerging from the merged firms to enhance a bespoke performance of their business process.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the motives of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M & A) by Indian companies for the period 1998 through 2009. The study has also attempted to ascertain the post-merger paybacks realized by the sample acquirer companies. It also identifies the motives which help in improving the post-merger performance. The preference of the motives and post-merger paybacks realized across the development status of the host economy, age and industry of the company has also been found.

This paper uses a survey approach to collect the responses over the motives and post-merger paybacks. Statistical tools, namely, Likert scale, factor analysis, independent samples t-test and binary logistic regression have been used.

The study found that there are five motives of cross-border M & A – value creation, improvement in efficiency, market leadership, marketing and strategic motives and synergistic gains. The results also indicated that the acquirer firms expect cost and financial efficiency, stakeholders’ benefits and employee welfare post acquisition. The motive of value creation significantly improves the post-merger financial performance.

The study has only considered the cross-border M & A but not domestic M & A.

The research is an attempt to understand the dynamics which are responsible for motivating Indian companies to go abroad for acquisitions. Thus, it would help the prospective Indian acquirer companies to focus on the motives which help in improving the post-merger financial performance.

This research paper is original as it explores the motivation of Indian companies for entering into cross-border M & A. It adds to the extant literature of cross-border M & A by emerging economies multinational enterprises.

The purpose of this paper is to study how institutional characteristics of specified purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are related to their post-merger survival. SPACs are unique financial firms that conduct the initial public offering (IPO) with the sole purpose of using the proceeds to acquire another private company. The paper finds that institutional characteristics of SPACs are important in determining post-merger outcomes of new company, specifically when it comes to their survival/failure, i.e., increases in pre-merger commitment by SPAC stakeholders and initial positive market performance increase post-merger survival likelihood; on the contrary, mergers with higher transaction costs and focused on foreign companies exhibit increased likelihood of failure.

Using unique sample of companies conducting an IPO, namely, SPACs, with the sole purpose to execute an acquisition in the future date within limited time, this paper presents additional evidence on the survival and acquisition frequency of IPOs, and determinants of these choices.

Observing unique set of specified purpose companies, this paper documents that SPACs’ failure rate is at the level of 58.09 percent, higher than any previously reported failure rate in the post-IPO survival literature and comparable only to failure rates found by Hensler et al. (1997) at 55.10 percent for general companies. In addition, the paper documents similar findings to Bhabra and Pettway (2003) that prospectus and market characteristics of original companies have predictive power with respect to survival.

This study extends the literature on post-IPO survival in following ways. First, the paper documents survival rates for unique set of companies organized with the sole purpose to acquire another company. Second, the paper presents evidence on how institutional characteristics of SPAC determine their post-merged outcomes, specifically when it comes to their failures. Finally, paper contributes to the scant literature on SPACs providing new evidence on their post-merger outcomes and performance.

This study aims to confirm earlier findings that differences between merger and acquisition (M&A) participant firms are a hurdle for successful mergers and shows that merger outcomes can also be affected by the post-merger integration duration (PMID).

Experimental research on distinct cultures developed within experimental pre-merger subject groups is used to compare pre- and post-integration performances.

This study finds that firm distance (i.e. inherent differences between pre-merger firms) negatively influences merger success; no significant relationship between firm distance and PMID exists and PMID is positively related to merger success. Specifically, a slower integration minimizes conflicts between merger partners, enhances trust-building and reduces the disruption of existing resources and processes in both firms, which may benefit M&As. By contrast, a fast integration that shortens the overall integration process may discourage the combined entity from recognizing the intended synergy quickly.

The new finding that PMID can affect merger outcomes invites empirical validation. This study presents experimental evidence that prolonged, well-structured post-merger integration may compensate for the negative time-variant issues associated with PMID.

Organizational support for collaborative learning between professional members should be a strategic consideration for firms so that acquiring business capabilities can be more natural and cost-efficient than building internal capabilities despite possibly slowing down the integration process. Encouraging a transfer of technical and client knowledge between the combined members can create value and understand differences in both the form and content of each firm’s knowledge base and the pre-existing mechanisms for sharing knowledge. It may lower the level of resistance in knowledge transfer.

While M&As may better facilitate the cost-effective expansion of business offerings than building capabilities internally, they can require considerable time, preventing many firms from realizing their intended outcomes. Nevertheless, less attention has been focused on PMID and its influence on M&As. This study is the first to use experimental research to examine the effects of PMID on merger success.

It is worth mentioning that mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have become a popular vehicle for emerging‐markets firms to rapidly access new opportunities and market capabilities. Indeed, privatization and multi‐nationalization have given a greater shore up in raising global and domestic merger deals. Motivated by these factors, the purpose of this paper is to investigate “do mergers produce abnormal returns around the announcement; conversely, do they improve financial performance in the long‐run?”

The study applies earnings management approach (event study) to compute average abnormal returns (AAR) around the merger announcement for select Indian M&A cases. Further, accounting ratios are considered to assess the long‐run financial performance. Thereafter, t‐stat is applied for testing the proposed hypotheses. In particular, it has performed a later test to the means of financial ratios and variables for both services and manufacturing sectors in accounting ratios and cylinder models, respectively.

The select Indian M&A cases show superior performance during the post‐merger period for both manufacturing and services sectors, and observe a balance sheet improvement in the long‐run.

Sample is one of the limitations to the study. Due to small sample of merger cases, this paper has limited scope to generalize the results. Hence, academic researchers may employ the suggested assessment (cylinder)‐models on a large sample.

The research work would help financial analysts, stockbrokers, M&A advisory and regulatory bodies while designing takeover and open offer policies.

This is an original contribution, which has developed new assessment (cylinder)‐models to examine the post‐merger long‐run financial performance of acquiring firms, especially sector‐wise evaluation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the post-merger integration duration on acquiring firms’ leverage behavior before and after a merger, using a dynamic model in which full merger benefits cannot be consumed at the instant of a merger, but rather after a pre-specified post-merger integration period.

This paper presents a dynamic model and empirical tests that describe the impact of the post-merger integration period on the capital structure dynamics of the acquiring and target firms prior to a merger and during the post-merger integration period. By incorporating costs associated with the post-merger integration period, the model can provide new implications for the leverage behavior around the merger.

Empirical tests support the model implications by showing that the longer the expected post-merger integration process, the less likely the acquirer will structure the financing of the combined firm in a manner that increases firm leverage. Since integration takes time to complete, an acquirer tends to retain financial flexibility during the integration process by assuming lower levels of debt when determining the capital structure of the merged entity.

The model generates new implications related to acquiring firms’ leverage dynamics along with the method of payment choice. The analysis of the duration of the post-merger integration period extends both the theoretical and empirical literature that tacitly assumes that the merger-related synergy is realized immediately at the merger date. This is the first model in the literature that assumes that both the acquiring and the target firms can change their capital structure overtime, which allows us to analyze both the financing structure and the merger timing. Previous empirical studies also ignore the integration period in the analysis of the method of payment choice and leverage behavior around mergers. The model in this paper can be extended along a number of dimensions.