Understanding the role of Sustainability in Mergers & Acquisitions from the perspective of Supply Chain Management – How green is the deal?

International manufacturing organizations face the challenge of implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris (COP21) commitments within the context of their global value networks. Networks that are increasingly fuelled by mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which in 2015 hit a record $4.28 trillion in deal value (Dealogic, 2015). While M&As produce mixed results, they fundamentally change the economic, social and environmental footprint of an organization, and its product supply chain. Merger synergies can change supply chain activities. In this paper we consider the factors that determine how green is the deal? and argue that sustainable supply chain management is a key consideration during pre-merger due-diligence, and in deal selection, assessment and execution. The objective of this paper is to test this argument by reviewing sustainability, mergers & acquisitions, and supply chain management literature published in peer-reviewed journals between 2010 and 2016. This paper’s contribution lies in identifying the key theoretical questions relevant when assessing sustainability within the context of M&A