Sustainability Framework for Assessment of Mergers and Acquisitions in Energy Sector

Abstract

According to Thomson Reuters DataStream database, 22,458 merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions with a deal value exceeding 7016 billion Euros have occurred in the energy worldwide sector during 1995–2020. International M&A enable promotion of sustainable competitive advantages, accelerates industry developments and helps to promote sustainable social and economic development. Our research aims to systemize empirical studies, which would enable assessment of the relationship between M&A transactions and the principles of sustainable development in the energy sector. To do so, SALSA (search, appraisal, synthesis and analysis) methodology with additional snowballing technique (chain-referral sampling) is conducted. The current research contributes to existing knowledge by providing an extensive systematic literature review of the academic publications on sustainable development and M&A deals. This paper may be insightful for practitioners and scholars because it highlights the most relevant lines of research on the topic and provides a synthesis of the interdisciplinary literature. Practical contributions of this paper come from its synthesis of interconnections between sustainable development and M&A deals in the energy sector, because sustainability matters may be reflected during different M&A processes: target selection, deal due diligence, deal valuation and post-acquisition integration.