INVESTIGATING EFFECT OF ACQUISITION ON INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF TARGET COMPANIES IN IRAN

Abstract

Managers seek to find the most desirable strategy to reach goals of their companies. One of the strategies which assist external growth of companies is merger and acquisition strategy. The goal of this research was to study the effect of acquisition on the intellectual capital and financial performance of (acquired) target companies. The statistical population included the companies admitted in Tehran Stock Exchange between 2004 and 2010, from among which the sample was selected. According to the accounting basis, the research data were calculated for two periods of before and after acquisition and the research hypotheses were tested using the paired samples T test. Test results of the target companies were compared with those of similar non-acquired companies as the control group. The research results indicated significant effect of acquisition on operating cash flow and return on assets and equity of the target companies. Moreover, it was found that intellectual capital increased after acquisition; however, there was no significant relationship with acquisition.