Find out more about our latest news and research.
Successful M&A deals contribute to firms’ environmental performance
Green Business: The Environmental Impact of M&A examines the environmental impact of firms involved in acquisition deals – important corporate actions that may lead to structural changes in the acquirer’s business and operations. The study explores if environmental performance changes before and after a deal and if this change contributes to an improvement in the environmental standard of the firm. 14 August 2019.
Most acquisitions and divestments don’t maximise value – even when some dealmakers think they do
The M&A Research Centre provided the market analysis for a PwC and Mergermarket study of 600 global senior corporate executives which found that only 61 per cent* of buyers believe their last acquisition created value. However, acquirers that prioritise value creation from the onset of the deal outperform their industry benchmark by 14 per cent on average 24 months after completion, while divestors that prioritise value creation can outperform industry peers by 6 per cent for the same period.
21 February 2019.
Deal makers consistently beat the market over the last ten years, underlining M&A’s success as a growth strategy
A Global study by Willis Towers Watson and Cass Business School, 4 December 2018.
Pension liability can make or break an M&A deal
A report by Dr Naaguesh Appadu finds that pension liability risk impacts both target and acquirers, 19 October 2017.
Leaked information on M&A deals leads to higher valuations
A report by Intralinks and the M&A Research Centre finds that leaked information can boost deal values by an average of $21 million, 26 June 2017.
New research reveals Chinese M&A into the UK hit record high in 2016
Cass publishes innovative research into Chinese M&A market, authored by Lin Zhu, MSc student and researcher and Professor Scott Moeller, 7 November 2016.
Cass Business School and NHS collaborate on M&A improvement guides
Cass Business School collaborates with NHS Improvement to help healthcare providers with mergers and acquisitions, 6 June 2016.
MARC team members give international M&A masterclasses
Scott Moeller and Anna Faelten, Director and Deputy Director of MARC respectively, both gave M&A masterclasses on the same evening but on different continents. Anna kicked off on 12 March to a full venue in Stockholm, Sweden with a masterclass entitled 'How to create value through a merger or acquisition', which was followed by a lively panel debate on the outlook for M&A in the Nordic countries with:
- Stefan Charette, CEO, Creades AB
- Pär-Ola Hansson, Lead Partner EMEA, Transaction Advisory Services, EY
- Peter Lundström, Head of M&A, Skanska, and
- Sven Nordenstam, M&A Correspondent, Reuters News (moderator)
Meanwhile, prior to teaching his four-day M&A elective on the Cass Dubai MBA, Scott Moeller (left) gave a masterclass on one of his case studies, 'The Battle for Marks & Spencer: Sir Philip Green's unsuccessful takeover attempt' to a packed audience of alumni, students, prospective students and guests at the Dubai International Finance Centre.
Publication of MARC paper in the JBFA
We are very pleased to announce the publication of our latest paper, 'Naked M&A Transactions: How the lack of local expertise in cross-border deals can negatively affect acquirer performance - and how informed institutional investors can mitigate this effect' by Anna Faelten, Miles Gietzmann and Valeriya Vitkova has been published online by the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting.
MARC Deputy Director Wins City Staff Research Prize
Anna Faelten, Deputy Director of MARC, was awarded a prestigious City Staff Research Prize by the President, Professor Paul Curran, in recognition of the high quality of her research into the economic effects of mergers and acquisitions in the United Kingdom. Anna wrote the study as her student dissertation for the Cass Executive MBA programme after the Department of Business Innovation and Skills asked the School to advise the Government and provide up-to-date evidence on the short- and long-term effects of mergers and acquisitions in the UK. The results of the study have changed policy in the UK Government and it has been specifically mentioned in Parliamentary Committee by Dr Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats (see story below). The study has also received coverage in the national and international press, and is currently being prepared for submission to academic journals.
MARC Director Discusses New Teaching Tool
The Director of the M&A Research Centre, Professor Scott Moeller, is interviewed by the Financial Times about how he uses the FT's Newslines feature in his Masters degree M&A classes at Cass Business School. This tool helps and encourages students to read around the classroom topics in order to get a wider real-world perspective on the M&A subjects covered.
MARC Research Cited in Parliament
Business Secretary Vince Cable cited a Cass study on the economic impact of M&A in a parliamentary hearing on bank lending and growth.
Mr Cable, who was giving evidence before the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, said the study led him to re-think his view on takeovers.
The study, which was published in 2011, found that the UK economy benefits from an average short-term boost of £178m per deal, countering the long-held view that takeovers are damaging.
Mr Cable said the study showed that takeovers had "substantial" benefits for companies and the UK as a whole.
He added: "(The study) challenges the orthodoxy which I have had for some time that we should be suspicious of merger activity in terms of its overall effects."
Deputy Director of the M&A Research Centre and author of the research, Anna Faelten, said: "It is good to know that research conducted at Cass is influencing policymakers at the highest levels of Government and contributing to important debates on matters concerning the UK economy."
Mr Cable was giving evidence before the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee on 17 July.
Watch the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee meeting on parlimentlive.tv, Mr Cable's comments referring to the MARC research begin 20 minutes 52 seconds in.
Download a copy of The Economic Impact of M&A: Implications for UK firms.
Publication of Finance Essentials: The Practitioner's Guide edited by MARC Director
Written by some of the best minds in finance, this book is crammed full of top-quality content that enables the practitioner and student alike to become more knowledgeable in their fields of interest.
Collated by Professor Scott Moeller, Director of the M&A Research Centre at Cass Business School, this collection brings together the informative articles a budding finance practitioner needs to operate effectively in today's corporate environment. Bringing together core finance knowledge and cutting-edge research topics in an engaging and effective way, this text is the ideal companion for all practitioners and students of finance.
It contains insights into the practical applications of theory in key areas, such as balance sheets and cash flow, financial regulation and compliance, funding and investment, governance and ethics, mergers and acquisitions, and operations and performance.
Contributors to this collection include some of the leading experts in their respective fields: Aswath Damodaran, Harold Bierman, Jr, Andreas Jobst, Frank J. Fabozzi, Ian Bremmer, Javier Estrada, Marc J. Epstein, Henrik Cronqvist, Daud Vicary Abdullah, Meziane Lasfer, Dean Karlan, Norman Marks, Seth Armitage and many others.
In this collection, there are:
* Over 80 best-practice articles, providing the best guidance on issues ranging from risk management and capital structure optimisation through to market responses to M&A transactions and general corporate governance
* Over 65 checklists forming step-by-step guides to essential tasks, from hedging interest rates to calculating total economic capital
* 55 carefully selected calculations and ratios to monitor firms' financial health
* A fully featured business and finance dictionary with over 5,000 definitions
MARC Director Appears on Editorial Intelligence Panel
On 3 November 2011, the Director of the M&A Research Centre, Professor Scott Moeller, appeared on the panel of an Editorial Intelligence event at Cass Business School which discussed foreign ownership and investment. Other panellists included Sarah Smith, Business Correspondent of Channel 4 News, Lord Lyndon Harrison, Chairman of the Lords' Committee for Economic and Financial Affairs and International Trade, Frances O'Grady, Deputy Secretary General of the TUC, and Stephen Pattison, Director & CEO of the International Chamber of Commerce UK.
AACSB Spotlight
In September 2011, the M&A Research Centre was chosen by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), one of the three 'triple-crown' organisations (along with AMBA and EQUIS) from which Cass Business School holds accreditation, to be the 'Spotlight' feature in its Research/Scholarship Resource Center. This is a great honour for both MARC and Cass, and it emphasises the unique nature of the Centre's work and structure.
