The international experience in domestic mergers – Are purely domestic M&A a myth?

•A theoretical overview of the study of cross-border M&A.•An ethnographic study of two European mergers.•Contribution 1: The conceptual distinction between domestic vs. cross-border M&A is obsolete, as domestic mergers are embedded in international contexts.•Contribution 2: The employee experience in domestic mergers bears international characteristics.•Contribution 3: The study of M&A benefits from ethnographic approaches.

Paralleling the rise of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) over the last decades, the academic study of the international dimensions and challenges of cross-border M&A has increased. This has led to a conceptual distinction between domestic M&As on the one hand, and cross-border M&As on the other hand. Our two ethnographic case studies on domestic mergers enable us to contradict this well-established assumption. We observe domestic mergers to be impacted by cross-border dimensions. These influences bear particular relevance on the merging organizations’ employees’ experience of the merger. In this light, the employee experience is deemed an international vs. domestic one. This leads us to posit that both academics and practitioners engaged with M&As need to bear caution with respect to the established domestic vs. cross-border divide. Our main contribution claims that in a globalized environment, purely domestic M&As are a myth. This finding bears important implications on the practice and theorizing on M&As and international management at large.