Evaluating the Viability of Merger Arbitrage in Nordic Equities

Abstract: This thesis aims to examine whether a merger arbitrage strategy is able to generate market neutral alpha in the Nordic region. Similar studies of merger arbitrage strategies in both the US and Australian market find market neutral alpha. To investigate the viability of such a strategy, we developed a “Merger arbitrage portfolio” which invests in 55 deals during 2003-2017 in the Nordic equity capital market. Our findings provide strong support that a merger arbitrage strategy is market neutral, even in times of financial turmoil. An excess return is recorded, however, when estimating the portfolio with the Market Model we find no statistically significant alpha. The results are affected by large outliers. We conclude that our version of the merger arbitrage strategy is not an optimal investment in terms of its Sharpe Ratio, compared to an index using a similar strategy and the stock market.