Merger and acquisition motives and outcome assessment

Research on merger and acquisition (M&A) outcome often focuses on tangible financial results and the reaction of stock markets. This research attempts to provide a more accurate assessment of M&A performance by linking tangible as well as intangible M&A motives to outcome assessment. The theoretical framework is based on evaluation theory. We analyze four case studies of international M&As conducted by European companies. The findings indicate that M&A outcome can be more accurately measured by aligning it with the motives defined by the acquiring firms. They suggest that M&A outcome assessment should be considered as a process covering both premerger and postmerger stages.