Cross-border Merger and Acquisitions: “The impact of tonality and effective communication on performance for acquiring firms” A study of Swedish companies

The research examines the effect of tonality on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) based on press release announcements. The impact of effective communication, tonality, and positive and negative words on the investor's behaviour and firm performance will be analysed to understand the impact on internal and external stakeholders. A comprehensive database of Swedish companies' press release announcements on cross-border M&A deals completed between 2016 to 2021 will be researched to build the hypothesis of nonfinancial factors, such as tonality being an influential factor in gaining share price and gaining a more significant market Share. Lastly, the study will build a correlation between the public press release by the company and the tonality effect on firm performance and the positive/negative tone effect on the cognitive ability of investors.
This thesis aims to investigate whether the reported information in the press release is somehow connected to future stock market performance and firms' profitability and asses if the tonality influences investors when deciding to invest in a firm. Further, this study aims to analyse the effect of certainty, openness, and transparency on the employees' affective commitment to change.