08.10.2019New publication by Prof Keil in Journal of Management

The article «The Pre-Deal Phase Of Mergers And Acquisitions: A Review And Research Agenda» co-authored by Professor Keil with Professor Tomi Laamanen (University of St Gallen), Assistant Professor Stevo Pavicevic (Frankfurt School of Finance and Management), and Assistant Professor Xena Welch-Guerra (Erasmus University) has been accepted for publication in Jounral of Management, one of the top journals in Management. The article provides a review of the research and a research agenda for the pre-deal phase in Mergers and Acquisitions.

Despite the long-standing research interest in the pre-deal phase of mergers and acquisitions, many important questions remain unanswered. The article reviews and synthesizes the extensive but rather fragmented research on this topic area in the fields of management, finance, accounting, and economics. The review is organized according to six themes, i.e., deal initiation, target selection, bidding and negotiation, valuation and financing, announcement, and closure, which represent the main categories of activities performed during the pre-deal phase. It shows that most of the existing research relies on a rather high level, simplified, and static conception of the pre-deal phase. Based on the review, the article puts forward a research agenda that calls for a more granular examination of individual activities and decisions, a more comprehensive analysis of the interplay among the different actors involved in the pre-deal phase, a better understanding of the role of the temporal dynamics, and the extension of the theoretical base from variance-based to process-based theorizing.