Corporate Responsibility and the Business Schools' Response to the Credit Crisis

Abstract

We analyze the post-acquisition performance of 384 unquoted entrepreneurial firms that have been acquired between 2000 and 2004, and compare it with 875 comparable, but independent entrepreneurial firms. Target firms in domestic acquisitions are less profitably and grow less than independent firms, both before and after the acquisition. Target firms in cross-border acquisitions are comparable to independent firms in growth and profitability, but they have higher margins and higher returns after the acquisition. Hence, especially cross-border acquisitions create operational synergies.