The Impact of Merger and Acquisition Activities on Corporate Performance Measured on an Accounting and Market Base

Master's Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Controlling, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne (Seminar für allgemeine BWL und Controlling), language: English, abstract: 'Warren Buffett swallows Heinz: Sauce for the sage' - a typical takeover announcement was published lately on 14th February 2013. Warren Buffett, a well known inves tor, acquired along with the financial investor 3G Capital the H. J. Heinz Company for $ 28 billion. This is likely to become the largest transaction in the food industry. The company's stock price rose more than 20.0 percent after the publication which is a very characteristic reaction to deal announcements. Hence, the important question is, if transactions, such as the takeover of the H. J. Heinz Company, affect the corporate performance consistently. In general, the core idea about mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is to generate additional future growth if for example organic growth is limited. If two companies merge or a target is bought by another company (the acquirer), shareholders believe in synergy effects. These are revenue enhancements, cost reductions, tax gains and reduced capital requirements leading to business growth and thus to a higher value of the new company. However, it is questionable if this theory can also be experienced in the real world. Ever since the effects of M&A have been analysed, the market of the United States (US) was used as data source. This is plausible due to the fact that the very first information was well recorded for US companies. It is remarkable that literature contributes very little research on Europe, although the number of announced European transactions is comparable to those of the US. For example, in 2007 the European deals volume overtook the one from the United States of America (USA) for the first time. Moreover, research on single European countries almost never exists or only rarely. One exception is the United Kingdom (UK) with an early takeover history beginning in the 1960s. However, European countries should be analysed separately because of its high diversity regarding the accounting framework, the corporate governance or the legal and regulation structure. For instance, Germany is characterised by conservative accounting principles and a high regulation by the banking sector. These issues may also influence the M&A decision making process.