The consequences of mergers on the profitability of Spanish savings banks.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been frequently justified in terms of value creation or efficiency improvements. Nevertheless, the evidence is not consistent with the existence of benefits in terms of profitability or market value of the firms involved. A distinguishing feature of extant research is that it focuses on the assessment of the consequences of mergers around the time in which the operation takes place, limiting the possibility of observing a complete integration between the merged firms. In this context, the objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of M&A on the long-run profitability of Spanish savings banks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]