The effects of mergers and acquisitions on stock price behavior in banking sector of Pakistan

Mergers and Acquisitions are considered as one of the useful strategies for growth and expansion of businesses. These strategies have widely been adopted in developed economies while are quite often practiced in developing countries like Pakistan. This study aims to explore the effect of Mergers and Acquisitions on stock price behavior of banking sector in Pakistan by using event study analysis for the period of 2002–2012. Market Study Method was used to compute the abnormal and cumulative abnormal returns for analyzing pre and post events effect of the phenomenon on share prices. The results reveal mixed observations of the activity of mergers and acquisitions on stock price performance. Our findings indicate that most of the firms experienced negative while some firms have shown positive abnormal and cumulative abnormal returns following the activity. Overall, the results indicate that the market responded negatively towards the phenomenon of mergers and acquisition in Banking sector of Pakistan. The results would be useful in providing new insights to the investors and management in making their investment related decisions.