TY - JOUR
T1 - Accounting measures of operating performance outcomes for Australian mergers
AU - Lau, Ben
AU - Proimos, Alex
AU - Wright, Sue
PY - 2008/11/14
Y1 - 2008/11/14
N2 - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse success at the corporate level for 72 Australian mergers between publicly listed firms during the period 1999-2004, and to reassess evidence in earlier Australian studies that contrasts findings from other countries which report a decline in post-merger operating performance. Design/methodology/approach A number of accounting operating performance measures for profitability, cash flow, efficiency, leverage and growth are used to proxy for the success of the merger, which is defined in terms of an improvement in each merged firm's industry-adjusted operating performance between the pre and post-merger period. Both non-parametric and parametric comparisons of these measures are presented. Findings Some evidence that mergers improve the operating performance of the post-merger firm is found. Industry adjusted profitability, cash flows, efficiency and leverage measures were higher in the post-merger period. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study are limited by the small sample size, the focus on listed firms, and the use of only operating financial measures of merger success. Future research could examine more mergers over a longer time period, use alternative methods of performance benchmarking, and use alternative measures of merger success, such as share price performance. Originality/value Australian mergers led to improved corporate performance during the period 1999-2004. This result is consistent with findings in other countries but has not been found in prior Australian research.
AB - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse success at the corporate level for 72 Australian mergers between publicly listed firms during the period 1999-2004, and to reassess evidence in earlier Australian studies that contrasts findings from other countries which report a decline in post-merger operating performance. Design/methodology/approach A number of accounting operating performance measures for profitability, cash flow, efficiency, leverage and growth are used to proxy for the success of the merger, which is defined in terms of an improvement in each merged firm's industry-adjusted operating performance between the pre and post-merger period. Both non-parametric and parametric comparisons of these measures are presented. Findings Some evidence that mergers improve the operating performance of the post-merger firm is found. Industry adjusted profitability, cash flows, efficiency and leverage measures were higher in the post-merger period. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study are limited by the small sample size, the focus on listed firms, and the use of only operating financial measures of merger success. Future research could examine more mergers over a longer time period, use alternative methods of performance benchmarking, and use alternative measures of merger success, such as share price performance. Originality/value Australian mergers led to improved corporate performance during the period 1999-2004. This result is consistent with findings in other countries but has not been found in prior Australian research.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84992930189&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/09675420810919720
DO - 10.1108/09675420810919720
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84992930189
SN - 0967-5426
VL - 9
SP - 168
EP - 180
JO - Journal of Applied Accounting Research
JF - Journal of Applied Accounting Research
IS - 3
ER -