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Examines the phenomenon of mergers in higher education in Australia, the United States, and Western Europe in terms of: (1) governance, management, and administration; (2) economics; and (3) academic activities. Finds similarities related to structural-cultural factors, process orientation, and economic factors. (DB)

This paper is proposing a new research approach to mergers and acquisitions value creation analysis. By using option pricing models we propose a new methodology on how mergers and acquisitions decisions can be analyzed using a quantitative approach, especially suitable for conglomerate type of mergers and acquisitions, where cost and revenue synergies do not represent a direct or visible financial benefit. Currently, the M&A research field is focusing mainly on the stock returns or cost synergies by the horizontal types of M&A events. The main implications of the results presented in this paper can confirm whether the top 20 M&A events that have taken place in the USA and Europe in the last 20 years were ones with high probability of value creation. In the future, this can become an important analysis point useful for the investment banking industry when evaluating M&A investments. On top, it can expand the field of research in the M&A environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the 2010 U.S. Horizontal Merger Guidelines, this article provides an overview of the state of economic analysis of unilateral effects in mergers with differentiated products. Drawing on our experience with merger enforcement in Europe, we discuss both static and dynamic competition, with a special emphasis on the calibration of competitive effects. We also discuss the role of market shares and structural presumptions in differentiated product markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Proceedings of Ostroh Academy National University Series, Economics is the property of National University of Ostroh Academy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Multi-campus universities are not a new phenomenon per se, but they have become an increasing feature of contemporary higher education systems all over the world. In the case of Northern Europe, multi-campus universities are the consequence of contraction patterns resulting from overcapacity, fragmentation and rising competition. This paper has two main objectives. First, to take stock of the existing scientific literature on multi-campus universities and, on that basis, develop a novel conceptual framework for categorizing such systems, with focus on the level of autonomy and profile enjoyed by the individual campuses composing a given system or university. Second, we provide new empirical insights as a way of testing and contextualizing our conceptual model, by drawing upon a case university located in the Nordic countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Focusing on fiscal issues, in this paper we analyzed the trend of European companies to streamline their activity through legal reorganization (i.e. takeovers, mergers, spin-offs, divestments) starting from tax benefits which may result from such operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of European bank, this paper investigates the impact of banks' geographic diversification on their cost of equity capital. Examining the geographic diversification of European banks gives an insight on the value of cross-border banking. To measure diversification between major geographic areas in which the bank operates, the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, based on revenues generated at home and abroad is constructed for each bank. To address the problem of endogeneity, system generalized method of moments estimator is used. The main finding of the analysis is that, other things equal, more geographic diversified banks have higher cost of equity capital than geographically focused ones. This result implies that the adverse market valuation effect of geographic diversification (increase in agency problem) dominates the positive ones (increase in efficiency and reduction in risk). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper studies the impact of European bank mergers on changes in key safety and soundness measures of both acquirers and targets. We find that acquirers in cross-border deals tend to perform better when their home country prudential supervisors and deposit insurance funding systems are stricter than that of the target. For target banks, we find that stronger supervision and tougher deposit insurance funding regimes result in positive post merger changes in liquidity and performance. Overall, while bank mergers have undermined bank safety and soundness in some cases, our evidence indicates that strong regulation and supervision can partly ameliorate this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Journal of Chernihiv State Institute of Economics & Management. Series 1, Economics is the property of Chernihiv State Institute of Economics & Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mergers are transactions often used as growth strategies by companies that are trying to gain a competitive advantage, or in order to fulfil their objectives. In this period, marked by uncertainty and risk, mergers can be an effective way to enhance the competitive power on the market, or a way to save, restore the declining companies. Given the emphasis on mergers in recent years, this article tries to offer a theoretical approach on mergers, with a highlight on the conceptual framework and the advantages that can be obtained by mergers. Some advices that any manager should take into consideration before completing the merger and, also, in the afterwards period, in order to ensure the success of this process, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial services industry is undergoing a period of unprecedented change as it adjusts to the banking crisis of 2007-08 and its ongoing aftershocks. An imminent wave of new legislation and regulatory initiatives is already reshaping the industry, especially for institutions and infrastructures in Europe. Investment budgets are being largely consumed through the need to ensure regulatory compliance, leaving little for product innovation and development. In particular, the advent of new capital and collateralisation regulations has exposed the high proportion of market players without sufficiently sophisticated collateral management systems to handle the new requirements efficiently. This new environment will be more competitive, and a previous tendency to buy in scale through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has become problematic for anti-trust authorities and has shown itself to be costly, often failing to create promised shareholder value. This paper argues that 'smart partnering' is a better strategic solution to building and sustaining competitive advantage in the current climate. The complexity in today's financial markets means it is not feasible for suppliers to self-manufacture every product and service for their clients. Specialising in products that differentiate and then creating partnerships with other suppliers with particular expertise can result in a win-win situation for all counterparties involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valuing and identifying synergies in mergers and acquisitions is one of the important issues in Corporate Finance. The aim of this paper is to value the impact of synergies resulted from mergers/acquisitions in the European pharmaceutical sector, realized between 2004 and 2007. In the study it has been analyzed the impact of the announcement of the deal on the stock price evolution of the acquiring companies for which it was used the event study technique. The results show clearly the positive market expectations in the day of the announcement as well as 6 days after, however the expected positive impact begins to fade out resulting in negative expectations in days 23 and 38, while regaining its confidence in day 39. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the factors influencing the target company's choice of bank advisor in mergers and acquisitions (M&As). We first examine the choice of hiring an advisor, which is nontrivial, since in one-third of transactions our sample target companies did not hire one. We also analyse the choice to hire as advisor a bank with a strong prior relationship with the company (i.e., the main bank). Using data on 473 European M&A transactions completed in the period 1994–2003, we find evidence that the decision to hire an advisor depends on three main factors: (i) the intensity of the previous banking relationship, (ii) the reputation of the bidder company's advisor, and (iii) the complexity of the deal. We also investigate the impact of the bank advisor on shareholder wealth. We find that the abnormal returns of target company shareholders increase with the intensity of the previous banking relationship, thus indicating a ‘certification role’ on the part of investment banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The banking industry has one of the most active markets for mergers and acquisitions. However, little is known about the type of operational strategies adopted by banking firms in the years following a deal. For a sample of bidding banks in the USA and Europe, this study compares the design and performance implications of different post-merger strategies in both geographical regions. Using accounting data, we show that European banks pursue a cost-cutting strategy by increasing efficiency levels vis-à-vis non-merging banks and by cutting back on both labour costs and lending activities. US banks, on the other hand, raise both interest and non-interest income in the post-merger period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses some significant developments in the enforcement activities of the Directorate General for Competition at the European Commission, during 2007–2008, focusing on two main themes: non-horizontal mergers and two-sided markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a number of significant developments in the enforcement activities of the Directorate General for Competition at the European Commission, during 2006–2007. It covers a selection of investigations as well as policy initiatives that have triggered a debate in terms of the underlying economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This first review of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition (DG COMP) gives an overview on DG COMP’s mandate and the main developments of 2005. The discussion includes institutional and policy developments, as well as the main competition policy decisions and Court judgments in the merger, antitrust, and state aid areas. It is argued that the trend towards a more effects-based analysis in EU competition policy had an impact on the assessment of competition cases, as well as on the development of soft law. For example, the effects-based approach was put high on the agenda with the publication of the Article 82 discussion paper. Similarly, the publication of the State Aids Action Plan (SAAP) launched a “more economic approach” in European state aid assessment. In line with its objective to focus resources on key sectors, two major inquiries were launched in the energy and financial sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a number of significant differences which exist between countries with respect to the freedom of the take-over market of corporations. The basic division is that between, on the one hand, the oligarchically structured Germanic (and Japanese) firms, which are virtually impossible to take over against the will of the leadership of the company, backed up by various control structures. The Anglo-Saxon type of firm, on the other hand, is - save for some exceptions - democratically structured and subject to bids, even if these displace management. The third type - the one found in Latinic countries - lies in between these two, for various institutionalist reasons. The second part of the paper discusses whether theory can throw any light on the behavioural and performance consequences of these structural/institutional differences. The derivation from such considerations is that, indeed, important and systematic divergencies in corporate behaviour and performance are to be expected. The third part applies a three-fold empirical test, with the result that the theoretically derived differences between company behaviour and performance in the structurally varying European takeover markets are clearly visible. It is concluded that this state of affairs poses an awkward problem for European market integration, to which some solution will have to be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]