Authors: Alessandro Pagano; Annalisa Tunisini
It is well known that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have a high failure rate and the search
for many drivers for M&A success is of great interest both for scholars and for practitioners.
Post-acquisition integration undoubtedly represents the most critical phase for the success of
a merger or acquisition. However the analysis of the role of business relationships – between
the two firms and among the two firms and other actors – on post-acquisition integration has
been very limited. Thus this paper has the objective to explore post-integration processes
taking into account both internal factors – examined in depth in the literature- and relational
factors. Specifically, the paper examines the case of a large Italian company active in the
mechanical sector whose growth has been based on various correlated acquisitions. The
analysis is based on three cases of acquisitions concerning Italian industrial cluster companies
smaller in size and operating in the same sector. The research is currently undergoing and this
paper shows preliminary empirical results. The preliminary assessment of the outcomes of
the acquisition processes highlights the role of strategic convergence, technological
complementarity and differences in organizational culture and procedures. Moreover, the
empirical research place emphasis on the value of previous business relationships as main
drivers of the effective post-acquisition integration.
Keywords: acquisition process, post-acquisition integration, business relationships,
mechanical sector.
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Conference: Glasgow, Scotland (2011)