The macroeconomic determinants of M&A activity in the United Kingdom

• Autor(a) principal: Antunes, João Nuno Ferreira
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/26135
• topic: Mergers and acquisitions; Macroeconomic activity; United Kingdom; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

This research intends to study the multivariate relationship between the macroeconomic environment and M&A activity in the United Kingdom, to which it uses data comprising completed deals with an UK-based acquirer from January 1985 until December 2015. Employing time series econometrics, it concludes that: i) the macroeconomic determinants used as proxy for business cycles share a long-term pattern with deal activity; ii) short-term adjustment processes towards the long-run equilibrium arise following shocks in the variables used; iii) GDP seems to be the major driver of M&A in the short and long terms; and iv) in the long-run, the stock-market proves a less relevant factor impacting deal activity in the UK than in the United States. This study contributes to the existent literature by: i) extending the research to other geographies rather than the US; and ii) employing multivariate models to assess the bi-directional relationship between M&A activity and economic conditions.