Are the busiest really the best? Further evidence from frequent acquirers

We reexamine the announcement returns for a sample of 4215 U.S. frequent acquirers making 3299 domestic and 916 cross-border acquisitions of public, private and/or subsidiary targets between 1999 and 2010. We find that the market has a much stronger reaction to fifth or higher bids and that acquisitions made during the speculative bubble enjoyed higher returns than those made after the Nasdaq closed at its all-time high. Our cross-sectional analysis also shows a strong negative cross-border effect over the entire period of our sample suggesting. This suggests that better targets were domestic rather than foreign, which may reflect the fact that profitable foreign opportunities have become costlier after the Internet craze. Further, we find that acquirer returns are lower for countries in which investor protection, external conflict and ethnic tensions risks are high.

► We reexamine the announcement returns for a sample of 4215 U.S. frequent acquirers making 3299 domestic and 916 cross-border acquisitions of public, private and/or subsidiary targets between 1999 and 2010.
► The market has a much stronger reaction to fifth or higher bids and acquisitions made during the speculative bubble enjoyed higher returns than those made after the Nasdaq closed at its all-time high.
► Acquirer returns are lower for countries in which investor protection, external conflict and ethnic tensions risks are high.