Determinants of Value Creation in Cross-Border M&As: The Case of the Software Industry

Abstract

This study specifically focuses on the software market and tries to identify the sources that intensify equity investments through merger and acquisition (M&A) paths. Increasing the firm size and accessing new growth opportunities is particularly significant in the software industry. Consistent with this view, this work focuses on the cross-border strategies that could be used to manage value creation processes. The results found are based on the fact that diversification of the geographic market (acquiring cross-border technology) is relevant to the positive answers given by the stock markets. Moreover, the age of the target firm strongly influences M&A decisions and the younger the target firm is, the higher the possibility of creating value, but this variable increases uncertainty in the evaluation of the target firm, decreasing the purchase offers. The complementary nature between the acquiring and the target firm and the size of the investing firm influence market return and appear to be linked. These results provide empirical evidence on the use of financial measures to determine the goodness of an acquisition but, above all, they provide a new reading of the evaluation of the complementary nature between the buyer and the target firm.