Modification of MNE Strategies in the Face of Financing Constraints

Abstract

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBM&As) are a significant component of foreign direct investment (FDI), which in turn is at the heart of the international business strategy of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Given that CBM&As involve both a scale and an immediacy to raising financing that greenfield investments often lack, financially constrained firms are inhibited from undertaking CBM&As. The authors go further and show that these financing constraints impact the markets where MNEs target firms for CBM&A transactions. In the presence of such financing constraints, the determination of which markets are targeted by MNEs is directly related to the supply of capital in the target market and the institutional distance between the home and host markets. Evidence in support of the hypotheses is documented using firm-level data on CBM&As from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries as well as Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) into every country globally for which data exist. The main implication of the research is that not only are financial constraints at the firm level important, but also that these constraints have a significant impact on the location of an acquisition target.

Citation

Boodoo, M.U., Booth, L., Georgopoulos, G.J. and Hejazi, W. (2024), "Modification of MNE Strategies in the Face of Financing Constraints", Finkelstein, S. and Cooper, C.L. (Ed.) Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions (Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions, Vol. 23), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-361X20240000023002