Who Writes the News? Corporate Press Releases During Merger Negotiations
98 Pages Posted: 16 Mar 2010 Last revised: 29 Jan 2014
Date Written: January 28, 2014
Abstract
Firms have an incentive to manage media coverage to influence their stock price during important corporate events. Using comprehensive data on media coverage and merger negotiations, we find that bidders in stock mergers originate substantially more news stories after the start of merger negotiations, but before the public announcement. This strategy generates a short-lived run-up in bidders' stock prices during the period when the stock exchange ratio is determined, which substantially impacts the takeover price. Our results demonstrate that the timing and content of financial media coverage may be biased by firms seeking to manipulate their stock price.
Keywords: role of media in finance, media coverage, news, press releases, mergers, negotiation
JEL Classification: G14, G34
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation