Market Response to the Announcement of Mergers and Acquisitions: An Empirical Study from India

The present article examines the short-run abnormal returns to India based mergers and acquisitions during 2003-2008 by using event study methodology. The present work is based on a sample of 623 mergers and acquisitions. We find that acquisitions by Indian companies significantly create short-term wealth on the announcement day to the shareholders of acquiring companies. Cumulative average abnormal return (CAAR) for Indian companies’ merger and acquisition activities is 2 per cent (significant at 1 per cent) over event window of 11 days (-5, 5). It seems the market perceives the merger and acquisition activities by Indian companies as efficiency enhancing. However, the results indicate presence of high event-induced variance in abnormal return. The present study reports a high event-induced variance in the abnormal return due to the announcement of mergers and acquisition in Indian context.