Article: M&A disclosure post-global financial crisis: the influence of family ownership Journal: International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation (IJAAPE) 2024 Vol.20 No.3/4 pp.291 - 318 Abstract: This study investigates whether acquirers provide higher-quality disclosures for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) after the global financial crisis (GFC) compared to before, in an effort to restore investors' trust and secure access to credit in a country, Italy, that lengthy recovered from the severe GFC. By employing a comprehensive mandatory disclosure index, we conduct empirical research on a sample of M&As spanning the pre-GFC (2006-2008) and post-GFC (2015-2017) periods in Italy. Our findings show heightened M&A disclosure quality post-GFC compared to the pre-crisis period, with the improvement being significantly more pronounced in family-owned acquirers than in non-family ones. This outcome remains robust after matching family and non-family observations through propensity-score matching. The study enriches extant knowledge on disclosure quality and offers practical implications to regulators, standard setters, and investors who may evaluate different responses to the GFC in a crucial area of disclosure. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: M&A disclosure post-global financial crisis: the influence of family ownership

Authors: Cristina Florio; Francesca Rossignoli

Addresses: Department of Management, University of Verona (Italy), Via Cantarane 24, 37129, Verona, Italy ' Department of Management, University of Verona (Italy), Via Cantarane 24, 37129, Verona, Italy

Abstract: This study investigates whether acquirers provide higher-quality disclosures for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) after the global financial crisis (GFC) compared to before, in an effort to restore investors' trust and secure access to credit in a country, Italy, that lengthy recovered from the severe GFC. By employing a comprehensive mandatory disclosure index, we conduct empirical research on a sample of M&As spanning the pre-GFC (2006-2008) and post-GFC (2015-2017) periods in Italy. Our findings show heightened M&A disclosure quality post-GFC compared to the pre-crisis period, with the improvement being significantly more pronounced in family-owned acquirers than in non-family ones. This outcome remains robust after matching family and non-family observations through propensity-score matching. The study enriches extant knowledge on disclosure quality and offers practical implications to regulators, standard setters, and investors who may evaluate different responses to the GFC in a crucial area of disclosure.

Keywords: disclosure quality; mandatory disclosure; M&A; mergers and acquisitions; business combinations; IFRS 3; goodwill; family firms; ownership; GFC; global financial crisis; Italy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAAPE.2024.138490

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2024 Vol.20 No.3/4, pp.291 - 318

Received: 09 Oct 2023
Accepted: 01 Feb 2024
Published online: 07 May 2024 *

Title: M&A disclosure post-global financial crisis: the influence of family ownership

Keep up-to-date