Performance of M&A and Their Impact on The Acquirers: The Case of Mittal Arcelor Merger

From the past few decades, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) have dominated the environment in which the companies operate. Various researches have also been carried out where the main focus of the study is on the abnormal returns of the acquirers of the firm after the merger.The results have revealed that on average,the returns to the target companies are positive and that they gain from mergers.However,the bidder returns may be zero or negative, but it still remains a puzzle if they gain from mergers in the long-run. This research investigates the performance of mergers and acquisitions and its impact on the returns of the acquirers of the firm. It considers a sample size of 50 UK acquiring companies from a period 2003-2007.Two research methodologies, that is, event study methodology and accounting studies have been employed to assess the performance of acquirers after the merger activity. The results of the event study reveal that on an average, the acquiring companies experience a negative CAAR of -0.71%.Also when examined the case study by using the accounting studies approach, it was deduced that even though mergers create value for the shareholders of the acquiring firm, but on an overall basis, the effect of merger is negative and they tend to destroy value