M&A activity tends to rise and fall along with the stock
market, and almost every company is either involved in a
deal, or affected by one, at some point. For instance, research
suggests that roughly 2-3 percent of public companies are
acquired in any given year.5 Often, a move by one competitor
triggers cascading moves by its competitors hoping to sustain
their competitive position. Mergers and acquisitions play a large role in shaping competitive landscapes and can have a
large impact on corporate value.
Many companies and investors do not have a firm grasp
on how M&A deals create or destroy shareholder value.
Companies do deals for a host of reasons, including the
pursuit of growth, diversification of their businesses, or to
consolidate an industry. And companies often feel compelled
to do a deal simply because other companies in their industry
are doing them. Generally, companies, investment bankers,
and investors assume that deals that add to earnings per share
are virtuous. But for an acquirer there is ultimately only one
test of a deal’s merits: whether it creates shareholder value.
Since investors have a strong incentive to properly evaluate
a deal’s economic value, the stock price change following
an announcement is often an excellent barometer of a deal’s
merit.