Political affinity and investors' response to the acquisition premium in cross‐border M&A transactions — A moderation analysis
研究了国家间政治亲和力如何调节投资者对跨境并购溢价的反应，发现政治亲和力正向调节溢价与收购方及目标方股票回报的关系，投资者利用政治亲和力评估溢价的可靠性。
Abstract This article investigates the moderating effect of political affinity between countries on investors' reactions to the premium in cross‐border acquisitions (CBAs). Based on a sample of 1,183 CBAs between 1999 and 2018, we find that political affinity positively moderates the relationship between the acquisition premium and the acquiring and target firms' stock market return. We argue that investors use political affinity to assess the reliability of the premium (i.e., management's overall perception of a given deal's synergistic potential). This is in line with prior literature reasoning that, unlike strong political affinity, weak political affinity increases the likelihood of government intervention, decreases the likelihood of deal completion, and results in higher premiums to mitigate the previous effects, thus potentially increasing the likelihood of value destruction.