New evidence on the economic motives for bank mergers
用大量并购样本重新检验银行并购的经济动机，发现高增长、高盈利银行用并购分散地理和业务，低盈利银行用聚焦并购优化运营，两类并购均创造显著正价值。
Abstract This study uses a comprehensive sample of mergers and acquisitions to reexamine the economic motives for bank mergers. We find that banks with good growth opportunities, high profitability, and high asset utilization rates use mergers to diversify geography and business activity. Banks with low profitability and poor asset utilization rates use focusing mergers to rationalize operations. We also analyze the sources of value creation. We find that local and focusing mergers and distant and diversifying mergers both create significantly positive value. Moreover, any differences in returns between focusing and diversifying deals are driven by firm, industry, and deal characteristics.