The economic impact of mergers and acquisitions in Greece: lessons from a comparative analysis regarding western economies

In line with the international literature mergers and acquisitions produce ambiguous economic impact in Greece. Target-companies gain positive returns up to 6%, while bidder-companies show indifferent results around zero. The level of the abnormal returns in Greece converges with those in Continental Europe, while in contrast differs significantly with the Anglo-Saxons. Certain parameters affect the level of the wealth effects both to target- and bidder-companies; however, the former gain constantly positive abnormal returns, while the latter do not show satisfactory results in any case. Certainly, managerial incentives and the hybrid hypothesis constitute primary driving forces for mergers and acquisitions.