RAPPAPORT A. – SIROWER M.L., Stock or cash? The Trade Off for Buyers and Sellers in Merger and Acquisition. Harvard Business Review, novembre-dicembre, 1999

Abstract

The legendary merger mania of the 1980s pales beside the M&A activity of this decade. In 1998 alone, 12,356 deals involving U.S. targets were announced for a total value of $1.63 trillion. Compare that with the 4,066 deals worth $378.9 billion announced in 1988, at the height of the 1980s merger movement. But the numbers should be no surprise. After all, acquisitions remain the quickest route companies have to new markets and to new capabilities. As markets globalize, and the pace at which technologies change continues to accelerate, more and more companies are finding mergers and acquisitions to be a compelling strategy for growth.

What is striking about acquisitions in the 1990s, however, is the way they’re being paid for. In 1988, nearly 60% of the value of large deals—those over $100 million—was paid for entirely in cash. Less than 2% was paid for in stock. But just ten years later, the profile is almost reversed: 50% of the value of all large deals in 1998 was paid for entirely in stock, and only 17% was paid for entirely in cash.

This shift has profound ramifications for the shareholders of both acquiring and acquired companies. In a cash deal, the roles of the two parties are clear-cut, and the exchange of money for shares completes a simple transfer of ownership. But in an exchange of shares, it becomes far less clear who is the buyer and who is the seller. In some cases, the shareholders of the acquired company can end up owning most of the company that bought their shares. Companies that pay for their acquisitions with stock share both the value and the risks of the transaction with the shareholders of the company they acquire. The decision to use stock instead of cash can also affect shareholder returns. In studies covering more than 1,200 major deals, researchers have consistently found that, at the time of announcement, shareholders of acquiring companies fare worse in stock transactions than they do in cash transactions. What’s more, the findings show that early performance differences between cash and stock transactions become greater—much greater—over time. Leggi l’articolo completo