Influence of Shareholders’ Support over Mergers and Acquisitions in US Banks

Abstract

[Abstract] Using data about the US banking industry, the study investigates how the support disclosed by funds in corporate meetings influences the success of the completion of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The methodological approach relies on the use of instrumental variables with the generalised method of moments (GMM). The results indicate that the voting support exercises a negative influence over the success of M&A, validating the probable presence of agency-driven behaviour in explaining M&A completion, and indicating that low governance and activism inspires independent behaviour of managers, proceeding against the wishes, position or interests of shareholders. Considering that voting performance has been reported as a proxy for reputational harm, the results provide some understanding about how the success in M&A in the US banking industry may be related to reputational consequences infiltrated through voting decisions