Leverage and Corporate Performance: Evidence from Unsuccessful Takeovers
研究发现，终止收购要约的目标公司会显著提高杠杆率，其中提高最多的公司通过削减开支、出售资产等改善业绩，表明高杠杆有助于公司保持独立并促使管理者做出改进。
This paper finds that, on average, targets that terminate takeover offers significantly increase their leverage ratios. Targets that increase their leverage ratios the most reduce capital expenditures, sell assets, reduce employment, increase focus, and realize cash flows and share prices that outperform their benchmarks in the five years following the failed takeover. Our evidence suggests that leverage‐increasing targets act in the interests of shareholders when they terminate takeover offers and that higher leverage helps firms remain independent not because it entrenches managers, but because it commits managers to making the improvements that would be made by potential raiders.