Title: How do strategic and financial buyers affect post-acquisition performance?

Authors: Alfredo Valentino; Ulrike Mayrhofer; Eleonora Fracassi

Addresses: ESCE International Business School - OMNES Education, Paris, France ' Université Côte d'Azur, IAE Nice, GRM, Nice, France ' LUISS Guido Carli University, Roma, Italy

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate how the type of buyer can influence cross-border acquisition performance. We combine the resource-based view with the institutional change framework to provide a more comprehensive understanding of post-acquisition performance. We hypothesise that different types of buyers can lead to divergent performances of acquired firms and that this relationship can be shaped by changes in institutional environments. Using a multi-country and multi-industry data set of 234 cross-border acquisitions, we find that both strategic and financial buyers have a positive effect on the performance of the target firm. Our findings show that strategic buyers positively affect innovative performance whereas financial buyers positively affect the economic performance of target firms. The observed effects are moderated by institutional changes.

Keywords: cross-border acquisitions; institutional change; host country environment; innovative performance; economic performance.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2025.147964

European Journal of International Management, 2025 Vol.27 No.1, pp.128 - 149

Received: 18 Jul 2021
Accepted: 24 Dec 2021
Published online: 12 Aug 2025 *

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