Success Of Mergers And Acquisitions In The Insurance Industry What Can We Learn From Previous Empirical Research

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Banking, Stock Exchanges, Insurance, Accounting, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne (Seminar für Allg. BWL, Risikomanagement und Versicherungslehre), language: English, abstract: Since the 20th century, the insurance industry has experienced an unprecedented wave of M&A. However, in spite of the drastic increase in insurance M&A activity, there has been little consistent empirical evidence on the value enhancement of these deals. Hence, many open questions still exist in this research area. The most fundamental questions are whether insurance M&A actually create value and what determinants influence the success of these undertakings. This thesis attempts to find answers to these questions by first examining the status quo of academic literature published in this field of research and bringing together the empirical findings on the success of insurance M&A and its influencing factors. Overall, the literature review outlines that insurance M&A on average tend to create value for shareholders of the target firms as well as for the combined entity of acquirer and target. Moreover, shareholders of acquiring US insurance firms, on average, also benefit from these corporate undertakings. However, negative short-term as well as long-term wealth effects for acquiring insurers’ shareholders are the common finding in capital market studies analyzing the effects of M&A transactions in the European insurance industry. Secondly, the reliability and validity of the findings of previous research are tested in an own empirical analysis which uses a fairly new approach to evaluating the success of M&A by using the idea of stochastic dominance (SD). More precisely, using a sample of 102 transactions conducted by publicly traded Western European insurance firms between the years 1993 and 2009, this work analyzes whether investors in acquiring insurance firms benefit from M&A by comparing return distributions of acquiring firm portfolios with benchmark portfolios using the first two orders of SD. The results show that insurance M&A trigger a negative short-term capital market reaction for acquiring European insurance firms. However, this short-term underperformance diminishes over time, and over a longer period of time of up to three years after M&A announcement, there is no underperformance of acquiring European insurers. In conclusion, based on the accumulated evidence from past empirical studies as well as the empirical investigation of this thesis, it can be concluded that M&A, not only in the US insurance market but also in the European insurance market, seem to be a viable model and are likely to lead to success for all parties involved.

Andreas Schertzinger identifies determinants of successful transactions, such as transaction timing and diversifying transaction strategy, through a multivariate statistical analysis. Two case studies illustrate success factors specifically related to the conduct of transactions in greater detail.

Although the economic motivation and efficiency effects of mergers and acquisitions (M & As) in the insurance industry have been discussed, none of the prior studies have addressed the relationship between M & A activity and insurance price change. In addition, little is known about the effect of diversification on the differences in insurance price across lines. The main objective of the dissertation is to provide evidence on these issues. A secondary objective is to investigate the relationship between M & A activity and insurer's efficiency and financial performance. We also examine various firm characteristics that affect insurance price differences across lines and that influence insurer's efficiency and performance. We conduct fixed effects model regressions to test our hypotheses using unbalanced panel data over the sample period 1989-2004. The empirical tests indicate that the price of insurance for newly formed insurers decreases following the M & As and diversified insurers charge lower prices than less diversified firms. Our result is consistent with one possible explanation that acquiring insurers reduce overall underwriting risks and more efficiently manage the frictional costs of capital through geographic and/or product line diversification by engaging in the M & As and therefore gain a competitive advantage in pricing. Our analysis also reveals a number of other interesting results. We find that insurance price is positively related to marginal capital allocation and inversely related to firm insolvency put value, suggesting the importance of incorporating insolvency risk and marginal capital costs in pricing lines of insurance business. We also find that the price of insurance is inversely related to cost efficiency, consistent with the efficiency structure hypothesis. However, the market share variable is not significant, implying that market power that can arise from M & A activity may not be a big concern for insurance regulators. In the analysis of efficiency and financial performance, we provide evidence that acquirers' overall cost and revenue efficiency and financial performances decrease following M & As. We also find that more focused insurers outperform the diversified insurers.

In 1999, MCI WorldComm and Sprint agreed to merge. Valued at $129 billion, this expected transaction was the largest in history. However, it fell victim to regulators in Europe concerned with the potential monopoly power of the merged firm. This M&A action was merely the latest in a growing trend of "blockbuster" mergers over the past several years. Once a phenomenon seen primarily in the United States, mergers and acquisitions are increasingly being pursued across national boundaries. In short, acquisition strategies are among the most important corporate-level strategies in the new millennium. The need for clear, complete, and up-to-date guide to successful mergers and acquisitions had never been greater. This book more than fills that need. Looking at successful--and unsuccessful--mergers and acquisitions in a number of different industries, Mergers and Acquisitions: A Guide to Creating Value explains how to conduct an acquisition and how to avoid pitfalls that have doomed many such ventures. The authors take the reader step-by-step through the process, starting with the elements of a successful merger, due diligence to ensure that the target firm is sound and fits well with the acquiring firm, and how mergers and acquisitions are financed. They move on to explore how firms find partners/targets for acquisitions that have complementary resources and how to find partners with which integration and synergy can be achieved. Finally, they discuss the potential hazards found in M&A's and how to avoid them, how to conduct successful cross-border acquisitions, and how to ensure that ethical principles aren't breached during the process. Based on 15 years of research, this essential guide goes beyond specific case studies to cover all aspects of these ventures, making it required reading for all managers seeking to build a successful strategy.

This book reviews both successful and unsuccessful mergers andacquisitions, exploring the reasons why so many fail to live up toexpectations. An exploration of why mergers and acquisitions succeed or fail,based on rigorous scholarly research. Stretches the boundaries of what we know about these complexphenomena. Presents original ideas about the merger and acquisitionstrategy, the effects of mergers and acquisitions on performance,and the critical processes involved in implementation andintegration. Explores new areas, such as the role of culture and leadership,and the importance of knowledge transfer and learning. Includes contributions from both highly respected scholars andup-and-coming stars in the field.

This book provides scholars and practitioners in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) with a solid foundation for further research. M&As continue to shape the economic landscape across the globe. While there is already a huge body of scholarly work on the subject, findings appear contradictory and academics and practitioners often struggle to understand what factors make M&As successful. Due to the lack of an agreed-upon definition, research findings appear contradictory, while in fact they are often simply not comparable. To address this, the book rethinks how we measure key umbrella constructs. It specifically focuses on the conceptualization phase of the measurement process, often taken for granted in the current research.

A powerful guide for seeking out the best acquisition and merger targets As increasingly more companies look to mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as a source of new growth and revenue, there is an even greater chance that these M&As will go bad. This insightful guide focuses on one of the most often debated and key issues in mergers and acquisitions-why some deals fail miserably and why others prosper. It provides a complete road map for what potential buyers should look for when picking a target and what characteristics of sellers they should steer clear of, as well as pitfalls to avoid during the M&A process. Real-world examples are provided of high-profile failures-Quaker Oats, United Airlines, Sears, and Mattel-and high-profile successes-General Electric and Cisco. Patrick A. Gaughan (New York, NY) is President of Economatrix Research Associates and a professor of Economics and Finance at the College of Business, Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is actively engaged in the practice of business valuations for mergers and acquisitions, as well as other related applications.

This book is intended to lay out, in a clear and intuitive as well as comprehensive way, what we know - or think we know - about mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector. It evaluates their underlying drivers, factual evidence as to whether or not the basic economic concepts and strategic precepts are correct. It looks closely at the managerial dimensions in terms of the efficacy of merger implementation, notably the merger integration process. The focus is on enhancing shareholder value creation and the execution of strategies for the successful management of mergers. It also has a strong public-policy component in this "special" industry where successes can pay dividends and failures can cause serious problems that reach well beyond the financial services industry itself. The financial services sector is about halfway through one of the most dramatic periods of restructuring ever undergone by a major global industry. The impact of the restructuring has carried well beyond shareholders of the firms and involved into the domain of regulation and public policy as well as global competitive performance and economic growth. Financial services are a center of gravity of economic restructuring activity. M&A transactions in the financial sector comprise a surprisingly large share of the value of merger activity worldwide -- including only deals valued in excess of $100 million, during the period 1985-2000 there were approximately 233,700 M&A transactions worldwide in all industries, for a total volume of $15.8 trillion. Of this total, there were 166,200 mergers in the financial services industry (49.7%), valued at $8.5 trillion (54%). In all of restructuring frenzy, the financial sector has probably had far more than its share of strategic transactions that have failed or performed far below potential because of mistakes in basic strategy or mistakes in post-merger integration. It has also had its share of rousing successes. This book considers the key managerial issues, focusing on M&A transactions as a key tool of business strategy - "doing the right thing" to augment shareholder value. But in addition, the degree of integration required and the historic development of integration capabilities on the part of the acquiring firm, disruptions in human resources and firm leadership, cultural issues, timeliness of decision-making and interface management have co-equal importance - "doing it right."

Make your next merger or acquisition one for the ages Meant to create value potentially fueled by synergies, the reality is that most mergers and acquisitions fail. It’s estimated that 83% of mergers and acquisitions do not hit their desired results. The Merger & Acquisition Leader’s Playbook tells you why most mergers fail. More importantly, it tells you how to make your next one a sweeping success. In the book, a team of private equity experts deliver a masterful walkthrough of how to integrate organizations by driving commercial success, instead of focusing purely on cutting costs. Readers will find: Concrete strategies for increasing the odds of success and reducing the risk of failure – of a new merger or acquisition A comprehensive, easily deployed and implemented plan to realize synergies Proven tools, techniques, and tricks of the trade to help leaders stay on top of their latest merger and keep everything on track A must-read resource for business leaders considering a fresh merger or acquisition, The Merger & Acquisition Leader's Playbook: A Practical Guide to Integrating Organizations, Executing Strategy, and Driving New Growth after M&A or Private Equity Deals will also earn a place in the libraries of investors, agents, corporate service providers, and consultants trying to get two or more businesses to pull in the same direction.

Corporations use a merger and acquisition strategy for business and profitability growth (Akinbuli & Kelilume, 2013), and this methodology for growth is common because mergers and acquisitions provide most companies the ability to achieve growth at a much faster pace than they would experience through organic methods (Gaughan, 2013). Despite the popularity of this growth strategy, mergers and acquisitions are not overly successful and a large amount of empirical evidence shows that acquiring organizations involved in the merger are likely to break- even at best, and have a complete failure at worst (Brouthers, Hastenburg & Ven, 1998). This quantitative case study will identify four merger and acquisition transactions that occurred between 1991 and 1994, from highly prominent corporations that were selected from the technology sector in order to provide an unbiased metric for gauging merger and acquisition success. The acquiring company’s total shareholder return is the unbiased metric used in this research and was calculated at three unique intervals. The intervals used were six months before the merger to six months after the merger, 12-months before the merger to 12-months after the merger, and 18-months before the merger to 18-months after the merger. The intervals were used to aid in evaluating the outcome from the merger transaction in order to gauge if the transactions provided a creation of value for the acquiring corporation’s shareholder. This research could benefit a shareholder or stakeholder in a company that utilizes mergers and acquisitions as part of their organization’s growth strategy as well as merger and acquisition teams to better identify successful transactions in order to model future strategy.