Acquisition and Growth of Technology-Based Firms

This study reports the results of an empirical analysis of acquisitions and growth of small technology-based firms. Three issues are focused upon: (1) the importance of technology-based acquisitions among large Swedish companies; (2) the growth patterns of acquired and non-acquired small technology-based firms (STBFs);and (3) factors explaining the growth among STBFs. The results indicate that technology-based acquisitions are increasingly important for the sourcing of technology among large Swedish manufacturing companies. For the STBFs, growth was found to be higher among the acquired firms than among the non-acquired firms, both before and after the acquisition. In a regression, an acquisition was found to positively influence growth. Finally, among explanatory factors critical for post-acquisition growth are the fulfillment of the buyers' and sellers' motives along with the realization of technological synergies