COMPARISON OF INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC ACQUISITIONS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

International Aquisitions (IAs) have been used extensively by companies. Although IAsdiffer from domestic aquisitions, there is not a literature review about how they differ. A literature review of acquisitions in terms of comparison between international and domestic deals is provided in this study. Based on the literature, it was shown that international acquisitions differ significantly from domestic acquisitions in terms of motivations, outcomes, success factors, integration problems, information asymmetry, and diversification. The study also identifies new aveanues for acquisition researh. The acquisition paradox and motivation-outcome inconsistency are identified as major issues in acquisition research, and ways to deal with these issues including using benchmarking methodology, risk-adjusted returns, and examining motivations in different ways are provided. In addition, acquisitions by emerging market multinationals and private companies, acquisitions of state-owned enterprises, pre-announcement and negotiation stages are identified as understudied areas with great potential in acquisition research.