Measures of Value in Acquisitions: Family versus Nonfamily Firms
Family Business Review, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 341-354, 2010
14 Pages Posted: 18 Nov 2012
Date Written: 2010
Abstract
This article sheds light on the valuation of family firms when compared with nonfamily firms as acquisition targets. The authors argue that although the majority of theoretical and empirical research explicitly recognizes the prevalence and superior performance of family firms around the world, acquiring companies tend to regard family firms as unprofessional and inefficient organizations, thus negatively affecting their valuation when compared with nonfamily firm targets. Overall, the authors’ empirical analysis, based on a matched-pairs methodology and use of multiples, shows that acquiring companies favor the stagnation perspective rather than the stewardship perspective and thus pay less (i.e., acquire at a discount) for a family firm target than for a nonfamily firm target
Keywords: family business, acquisitions, evaluation, EBIT, EBITDA
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