Operational performance of targets in Central Eastern European manufacturing sector

Abstract

Starting form the existing literature this paper focuses on providing additional evidence on the financial performance of target companies following mergers and acquisitions. The study analyses abnormal operational returns in pre- and post-acquisition periods for 100 manufacturing targets located in Central Eastern Europe. The deals included in this study were closed between the years 2000-2008. The results show that at a post-acquisition stage targets created on average significant positive returns of around 5-6% above the pre-acquisitions stage. Furthermore, this analysis demonstrates that smaller targets gain on average higher returns then larger targets following the acquisition.