Shareholders at the Gate? Institutional Investors and Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions

54 Pages Posted: 25 Mar 2008 Last revised: 29 Jan 2009

See all articles by Massimo Massa

Massimo Massa

INSEAD - Finance

Miguel A. Ferreira

Nova School of Business and Economics; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Pedro Matos

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: September 1, 2007

Abstract

We study the role of institutional investors in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We find that foreign institutional ownership is positively associated with the intensity of cross-border M&A activity worldwide. Foreign institutional ownership increases the probability that a merger deal is cross-border, successful, and the bidder takes full control of the target firm. This relation is stronger in countries with weaker legal institutions and in less developed markets suggesting some substitutability between local governance and foreign institutional investors. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that foreign institutional investors act as facilitators in the international market for corporate control; they build bridges between firms and reduce transaction costs and information asymmetry between bidder and target. We conclude that cross-border portfolio investments of institutional money managers and cross-border M&A are complements in promoting financial integration worldwide.

Keywords: Institutional investors, Mergers and acquisitions, Financial integration

JEL Classification: G15, G23, G34

Suggested Citation

Massa, Massimo and Ferreira, Miguel Almeida and Matos, Pedro, Shareholders at the Gate? Institutional Investors and Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions (September 1, 2007). EFA 2007 Ljubljana Meetings Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=966107 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.966107

Massimo Massa

INSEAD - Finance ( email )

Boulevard de Constance
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Miguel Almeida Ferreira (Contact Author)

Nova School of Business and Economics ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
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Pedro Matos

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

University of Virginia
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United States
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434 924 0726 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/faculty-research/directory/pedro-matos/

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

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