As a result of economic and structural changes, the automotive supply
industry has been facing significant consolidation activity over the
last twenty years. The pressure to produce better equipped and less
expensive automobiles has created a growing trend towards specialization
and internationalization. c (M&A) are now considered as a common
strategic response to this trend.
Based on a sample of 230 M&A between 1981 and 2007, Jan-Peer Laabs
challenges the short-term return behavior of acquirers in this industry
in contrast to their long-term performance based on capital market and
financial accounting information. For this purpose, he combines the two
most advanced and updated capital market methodologies with a thorough
analysis of published accounting information. A clearly negative yet
consistent perspective on the long-term value creation potential emerges
across the different empirical analyses. Over the three years following
M&A transactions, acquirers appear to lose significant value. However,
an additional case study on the takeover of Siemens VDO by Continental
AG offers a number of valuable key success factors and insights on how
to evade the negative return destiny.