Assessing the Performance of Banking M&As in Europe: A New Conceptual Approach

This book examines the performance of mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry in Europe and introduces a new approach for assessing the phenomenon by considering the various strategies underlying consolidation activity – namely, the initial activities of the banks involved and the geographical dimension of their transactions. The results show that the economic and financial performance of a banking M&A depends on its underlying strategy, which is defined on the basis of the bank’s initial activities and its geographical reach. The optimal combination of these two factors – defining the optimal underlying strategy – could be a critical factor for the success or failure of an M&A.