Title: "The Long-Run Stock Market Performance of Mergers and Acquisitions"
(The paper is a joint work with Sudheer Chava, Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business).
Abstract: We investigate the long-run stock market performance of acquirer firms using a modified staggered synthetic control approach. Our methodology matches on multiple acquirer characteristics before mergers and acquisitions (M&As), with weights optimized to balance differences during pre-M&A time periods. Based on post-merger excess returns over three years, we find that, on average, M&As are neither value adding nor value destroying. Our heterogeneity analysis based on merger characteristics finds that larger acquirers tend to have higher three-year returns. Our methodology has applications for other long-run corporate event studies.