Cash vs. Stock Deals: Bidders' Performance in Tech and Non-tech M&A : Evidence from Mergers and Acquisitions in Sweden

Abstract: This paper researches the effects of choice of payment (cash and stock) and M&A type (technological and non-technological) on bidders’ performance. We investigate 500 events in Swedish market between 2005 and 2015. Moreover, we also control the size of firms and the value of takeovers. In this paper, we conduct an event study in order to generate abnormal returns for the bidders at and around the M&A announcement. This research generates statistically significant and positive abnormal returns for the bidders especially when deals are financed by shares. Moreover, we also find that the technological M&A brings about lower abnormal returns than non-technological M&A. When we control for payment choice in technological M&A, the result shows that technological M&A paid for in shares generates higher abnormal returns than technological M&A paid for in cash.