Impacts of international mergers and acquisitions on the logistics operations of manufacturing companies

Abstract

The ongoing trends of rapid technological development and globalisation have reshaped several industries during the past decade. For one, the newly emerged challenges have triggered a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) within a number of industries as companies have sought efficient ways to enhance their business capabilities and to restructure themselves to better adapt to the new business environment. This paper discusses the value creational aspects of international M&A and addresses matters of resource redeployment and capability transfer related to the logistics operations of manufacturing companies. The empirical part of the paper reports on an explorative multiple-case study covering six horizontal M&A deals carried out by Finnish manufacturing companies during 1998–2001. Results suggest that the combining of complementary resources, in particular, and capability transfer (e.g. of technology-related knowledge) can create value through the transference of existing key competencies to new contexts, as well as through creating new capabilities.