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The objective of this study is to shed light on the added value of the services of five disciplines in M&A advisory in the SME domain: accountants, bankers, business brokers, fiscalists and lawyers. Theory is inconclusive in the added value of advisory services and research on the subject is hardly available. RBV predicts direct benefits in using advisory services in M&A, leading to less obstacles in and directly after M&A or lagged effects on more renewal of the firm. The theory of structural holes, agency theory and management entrenchment theory on the other hand predict neutral or negative effect of advisory services in M&A. The dataset includes 899 mergers and acquisitions (1) completed before 2003; (2) with an acquirer having bought 100% of target shares or assets; (3) of German, Belgian or Dutch origin; (4) of non-listed firms; (5) where acquirer and target firm are not member of the same family. Using (M)ANOVA’s and controlling for the effects of more than one advisor involved, the outcomes show consistently that the M&A advisory services do not reduce obstacles like financing, misinformation and culture and staff problems during or immediately after M&A. Looking at lagged effects of advisory services in the period of two years after M&A strategic more renewal by innovation occurs if bankers, fiscalists and lawyers are involved. Involvement of accountants and business brokers on the other hand decrease renewal.
The objective of this study is to shed light on the added value of the advisors in SME mergers or acquisitions: accountants, business brokers, tax consultants and lawyers. Theory is inconclusive on the added value of advisory services and research is rare. RBV predicts direct advantages for using advisory services in M&A: fewer obstacles during and directly after M&A and lagged beneficial effects involving more renewal in the firm. The theory of structural holes, agency theory and management entrenchment theory, on the other hand, predict neutral or negative effects from advisory services in M&A. The dataset includes 855 SME mergers and acquisitions in three countries, where the acquirer and target firm did not belong to the same family. Using binary logistic regressions the results show consistently that the M&A advisory services do not reduce the occurrence of obstacles in M&A, but for the positive impact of tax consultants on financial shortfalls and misinformation. However more renewal in the two years after acquisition can be observed when several advisors are involved, particularly so lawyers and bankers. The outcomes suggest that not one theory is able to predict both the immediate and lagged effects of advisory services. The theory of structural holes/agency/entrenchment predicts immediate effects best, while RBV predicts lagged effects best. The database and research design have some limitations. More fine grained hypotheses and measurements are recommended for future research.
The world of student associations, is not all what it seems to be. Here, like in the corporate boardroom, we find a world of personal ambition that drive unproductive acquisitions and other unwanted managerial behavior. Agency problems as studied by Jensen & Meckling (1976) and eloquently summarized by Gordon Gekko (1987) are major causes of the credit crisis of 2008.