Stakeholder Influences in Acquisition Processes

Mergers and acquisitions (M& A) are a very well-known, modern but also long-established business practice among corporations (Gaughan, 2011). They “have a unique potential to trans- form firms and contribute to corporate renewal” (Haspeslagh & Jemison, 1991: 3). Therefore, they are one of the major strategic options for external growth next to alliances and joint ventures (Bauer & Matzler, 2014; Cartwright & Schoenberg, 2006) and present an essential strategic option for companies (Gaughan, 2011). Traditionally, acquisition research has focused mainly on the antecedents of acquisition de- cisions and the outcome of transactions, particularly focusing on shareholder wealth (Haleblian et al., 2009; Hitt et al., 2012; King et al., 2004). Over the course of the last few decades, stakeholder theory has been disregarded in strategic management research, especially in acquisition research (Aguilera et al., 2015; Bettinazzi & Zollo, 2017; Laplume et al., 2008). Altogether, the M& A setting offers a rich research field for this thesis. The puzzle of the low success rates and the still high and increasing worldwide merger activity requires extensive additional research. Although academic research has come a long way, it still provides an incomplete picture of acquisitions and the factors that are crucial for its success. The involvement of stakeholders, the process perspective and the external perspective of information intermediaries have the potential to complete the incomplete picture of acquisitions and contribute to solving the phenomenon of the high M& A activity despite its low performance implications.