Mergers & Acquisitions in the Machinery Industry (2010)

Which motives initiate managers to merge or to acquire other corporations? While there is a long-lasting history of empirical research on M&A in a cross-industry context, our knowledge about industry specific drivers of M&A is more than limited. Given this background, the machinery industry is an attractive segment to address questions on M&A motives - as it is on the one hand a very fragmented industry and on the other hand a bundle of in some parts highly consolidated sub-industries. In his thesis, Mr. Geiger makes an effort to answer the question why firms in the machinery industry follow M&A strategies and how successful they are in their transactions. This is not only a remarkable endeavour because Mr. Geiger uses some hand selected unique datasets, but in particular, because he presents state-of-the-art analyses which are competitive and meet highest international standards. The thesis on hand carefully identifies and addresses open research questions related to M&A strategies in a very specific industry. Its primary objective was to identify M&A motives for different types of companies in various sub-segments of the machinery industry by analyzing stock price and accounting data. Thusly objectifying managerial action allows deriving recommendations for financing practice.