Department of Banking and Financial Management University of Piraeus
Academic Seminar Series
Thursday, April 10th, 2025 / Time: 16:15 – 17:30, Online

The Disruptive Effect of Failed Acquisition Attempts

Giorgo Sertsios

Lubar College of Business, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Abstract

We study the causal effect of failed acquisition attempts on the likelihood of acquiring other firms. Our empirical design compares the future acquisitions of U.S. listed firms after failed and completed international attempts. Attempt failure is instrumented with post-deal-announcement short-run foreign exchange rate variation. Deals fail more often when the local currency depreciates after announcement. Firms that fail in their attempts (for this arguably exogenous reason) are less likely to complete other acquisitions, particularly domestic and downstream acquisitions. Our findings suggest that failed attempts disrupt a series of complementary acquisitions rather than merely representing independent missed opportunities.

Dr. Giorgo Sertsios is Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. He earned his PhD from the University of Maryland, and prior to joining UWM’s Lubar College of Business, he worked at Universidad de Los Andes, Chile, and The University of Houston. Dr. Sertsios has expertise and conducts research in corporate finance. His research focuses on how financing and investment decisions relate to firms’ product-market strategies and organizational form. His research has appeared in The Journal of Finance, The Review of Financial Studies, Management Science, Journal of Law, Economics, & Organizations, Journal of Financial Intermediation, Journal of Corporate Finance, and The Review of Corporate Finance Studies.

This seminar will be online on Teams. Click here to attend