Study of the Effect of M&A on Real Estate Industry Firms' Performance

This paper proposes to adopt data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on Malmquist total factor productivity (TFP) indices methods to evaluate the effect of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on acquirers in short-term and long-term windows. Based on analysis of 32 M&A deals conducted by Chinese real estate firms from 2000-2011, the study results demonstrate that the effect of M&A on developers' performance is positive. Through M&A, the developers' Malmquist TFP experienced a steady growth; their technology had noticeable progress immediately after acquisition; and their technical efficiency suffered a slight decrease in the short-term after acquisition, but then achieved a marked increase in the long-term with realization of integration and synergy. However, there is no evidence that the real estate firms have achieved scale efficiency improvement after M&A in either short-term or long-term.