Electroniccopyavailableat:=642322Domergersynergiesexist?GennaroBerniley,ScottBauguesszFebruary2010AbstractExecutivesfrequentlyforecastlargee¢ciencygainsfrommergers.Usingthesepro-jections,westudytheimpactofsynergiesonmergerperformance.Investorsreactiontomergersvariesdirectlywiththeavailabilityofforecastsandthegainstheyimply,andpost-mergeroperatingperformanceincreaseswiththepredictablecomponentofsynergiesbasedondealcharacteristics.Therealizedimprovements,however,donotdependontheavailabilityofforecastsorthesurprisetheyconvey.Long-termreturnsreconcilethediscrepanciesbetweeninvestorsexantebeliefsandmergersexpostper-formance.Theevidencesupportstheneoclassicalviewthatsynergiesexpectationsandrealizationsareimportantdeterminantsofmergersuccess.Keywords:MergersandAcquisitions,Synergies,ManagementForecasts,MergerPer-formance.JELClassi cationNumbers:G14,G17,G34.ThisprojectisdedicatedtothememoryofMichaelBarclay.GennaroisgratefultohisdisserationcommitteemembersMichaelBarclay,GreggJarrell,andG.WilliamSchwertforhelpingtoshapethisprojectandprovidingcontinuoussupport.WealsothankforcommentsandsuggestionsRuiAlbuquerque,DavidBecher,JamesBrickley,FredHood,ChristopherJames(AFAdiscussant),TullioJappelli,JamesLinck,XiLi,EvgenyLyandres,SanjogMisra,Je¤Netter,GregNiehaus,MarcoPagano,HyunSongShin(WISEdiscussant),Cli¤SmithJr.,RossWatts,JoshWhite,RyanWhitby(FMADiscussant),JoannaWu,JerryZimmerman,andsessionparticipantsattheIIWISEinSalerno,2004,theAFA2005Meetings,FMA2006Meetings,andseminarparticipantsatConcordiaUniversity,DrexelUniversity,GeorgeMasonUniversity,McGillUniversity,NorwegianSchoolofManagement,UniversityofAarhus,UniversityofGeorgia,UniversityofMiami,UniversityofRochester,andUniversityofSouthCarolina.Finally,wegratefullyacknowledgethededicationandassistanceofBarbaraFebbraroandseveralundergraduatestudentsattheUniversityofMiamiincollectingthedataforthisproject.Webearfullresponsibilityforanyremainingerrors.ySchoolofBusiness,UniversityofMiami,CoralGables,FL33124,gbernile@exchange.sba.miami.edu,tel:(305)284-6690;SEC,Washington,DC,bernileg@sec.gov,tel:(202)551-8515.zSEC,Washington,DC,bauguesss@sec.gov,tel:(202)551-6660.Electroniccopyavailableat:=642322Domergersynergiesexist?February2010AbstractExecutivesfrequentlyforecastlargee¢ciencygainsfrommergers.Usingthesepro-jections,westudytheimpactofsynergiesonmergerperformance.Investorsreactiontomergersvariesdirectlywiththeavailabilityofforecastsandthegainstheyimply,andpost-mergeroperatingperformanceincreaseswiththepredictablecomponentofsynergiesbasedondealcharacteristics.Therealizedimprovements,however,donotdependontheavailabilityofforecastsorthesurprisetheyconvey.Long-termreturnsreconcilethediscrepanciesbetweeninvestorsexantebeliefsandmergersexpostper-formance.Theevidencesupportstheneoclassicalviewthatsynergiesexpectationsandrealizationsareimportantdeterminantsofmergersuccess.Keywords:MergersandAcquisitions,Synergies,ManagementForecasts,MergerPer-formance.JELClassi cationNumbers:G14,G17,G34.1.IntroductionNeoclassicaltheoriesportraymergersas rmsrationalreactiontoindustry,regulatory,andtechnologicalshocksfosteringane¢cientallocationofresources.1Manypractitionersandacademicsmaintainthatthepotentialforamergedentitytooperatemoree¢cientlythanthemergingstand-alone rms,i.e.,availabilityofsynergies,isanimportantdeterminantofthemergerdecision.2Agencyandbehavioraltheories,ontheotherhand,viewmergersasamanifestationoftheinherentagencyconictbetween rminsidersandinvestors,orofthecognitivebiasesaictingmanagers,orofinsidersattemptstoexploitmarketmisvalua-tions.3Althoughtheseexplanationsarenotmutuallyexclusive,weaddressalong-standing,importantquestionattheheartofneoclassicaltheories:dosynergiesexist?Existingstudiescommonlyinfertheexistenceofsynergiesfromvariousmeasuresofmergerperformance.Short-termeventstudiestypicallyindicatethatnetgainstomerging rmsshareholdersarepositive,whileanalysesofpost-mergeroperatingandstockperformanceprovidemixedevidence,atbest.Moreover,severalresearchershighlightthatitmaybedi¢cultorevenunfeasibletodrawinferenceabouttheexistenceandmagnitudeofmergersynergiesfromtheavaiableevidence(e.g.,Kaplan,Mitchell,andWruck,2000;Andrade,Mitchell,andSta¤ord,2001;Hietala,Kaplan,andRobinson,2003).Arguably,questionsremainastowhetherthesuccessofM&Adependsontheexistenceandmagnitudeofpotentialsynergies.Toaddressthesequestions,weexploitalargelyunexploredsourceofinformation:thesynergiesforecastsprovidedbymerging rmsinsiders.Inprinciple,managerialprojectionsprovideauniqueexperimentaltoolwithwhichtoassesstheeconomicrelevanceofmerger-relatede¢ciencies,becausemanagersareinthebestpositiontoevaluatethem.Yet,thatinsiderswouldportrayM&Aashavingthepotential1MitchellandMuhlerins(1997)andHarfords(2005)studiesofmergerssupportGorts(1969)argument.2See,forinstance,Bradley,Desai,andKim(1988),Kaplan(2000),MaksimovicandPhillips(2001),JovanovicandRousseau(2002),andHouston,James,andRyngaert(2001).3Insidersself-interestedbehavioristhedriverofthemergerdecision