Value performance of European bank acquisitions

摘要

This article provides the first analysis of value gains to acquirers in the European bank M&A wave of 1996-2004. Using a sample of 75 publicly traded banks from 19 European countries, we document positive and statistically significant abnormal returns for the aggregate acquisition sample. Partitioning the sample with respect to product-market and geographic diversification indicates strong statistical evidence that all types of domestic deals as well as bank-to-bank cross-border deals create shareholder value. Gains to cross-border diversifying deals are insignificant.