We provide evidence of a drastic drop in stock run-ups of U.S. target firms preceding merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements over the past decades. The median target run-up declines from approximately 10% in the 1980s to 2% after 2010. The trend in target run-ups cannot be fully explained by deal or firm characteristics associated with deal anticipation. However, it disappears after controlling for changes in the strength of U.S. insider trading regulation over the research period. Further analyses corroborate our conclusion that more stringent insider trading regulation is the most likely explanation for the reduction in target run-ups.

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并购目标的概述

我们提供的证据表明，在过去的几十年里，美国目标公司的股票上涨在并购 (M&A) 公告之前急剧下降。目标上升的中位数从 1980 年代的大约 10% 下降到 2010 年后的 2%。目标上升的趋势不能完全用交易或与交易预期相关的公司特征来解释。然而，在控制了研究期间美国内幕交易监管力度的变化后，它就消失了。进一步的分析证实了我们的结论，即更严格的内幕交易监管是减少目标上升的最可能解释。