Comparative Analysis of Business Performance of Cross Border Acquisitions in Serbia

Abstract

This paper investigates performance of cross-border acquisitions in Serbia. The paper includes two parts. The first part considers the results of the hitherto done research into cross-border acquisitions as a value creation strategy. The success rate cross-border acquisitions have had and the factors behind post-acquisition business performance of target firms are presented. The second part of this paper gives the analysis of the performance of cross-border acquisitions in Serbia based on the sample drawn from 78 target firms. The analysis comprises three business performance ratios whose values before and after acquisition were compared. The average of performance ratios of the most profitable companies in Serbia is used as a benchmark against which the performance of cross-border acquisitions is then compared. The analysis shows that, in spite of the global economic crisis, foreign investors in Serbia enhanced business performance of a significant number of target firms. Additionally, the analysis shows that cross-border acquisitions in Serbia failed to meet the business performance benchmark due to post-acquisition duties that were to be met under the economic crisis.