Business Commons^™

Intra-Industry Effects Of Takeovers: A Study Of The Operating Performance Of Rival Firms, Rupendra Paliwal

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper investigates whether the managers of industry rivals act to mitigate their agency exposure and improve operating performance when one of the firms in the industry is subject to a takeover attempt. The results indicate that rival firms in general decrease free cashflows, improve operating performance, reduce capital expenditures, and increase leverage in response to a control threat within the industry. In particular, rival firms with potentially higher agency costs i.e., fewer investment opportunities and high cash or high free cashflows exhibit a higher reduction in cash levels and free cashflows subsequent to a control threat in their industry. …