Cross-border acquisitions of foreign firms in Portugal and of portuguese firms abroad: exploration and exploitation through acquisitions

• Autor(a) principal: Ferreira, Manuel Portugal
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Outros Autores: Li, Sali, Lopes, Márcio Continentino, Serra, Fernando Ribeiro
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/86
• topic: Cross-border acquisitions; Knowledge strategy; Structural form; Portugal

In this paper we examine the cross-border acquisitions in Portugal in the period from 1990 to 2002. We characterize the foreign acquisitions in Portugal and the portuguese firms' acquisitions abroad focusing on the countries of origin and target industries. We discuss the observed patterns of acquisition activity in the context of firms' knowledge and internationalization strategies. In particular, we focus on the potential for knowledge access and organizational learning emerging from cross-border acquisitions, and the extent to which the potential knowledge strategy is adjusted with the structural form of the acquisitions.We conclude that most cross-border acquisitions involving portuguese firms, as targets or acquirers, are driven by a market seeking strategy and the exploitation of resources and capabilities held, rather than by a strategic asset-seeking strategy and the exploration of new sources of knowledge.