Stock Splits as a Manipulation Tool: Evidence from Mergers and AcquisitionsShourun Guo, Mark H. Liu and Weihong Song Financial Management, 2008, vol. 37, issue 4, 695-712 Abstract: We document that acquiring firms are more likely than nonacquiring firms to split their stocks before making acquisition announcements, especially when acquisitions are financed by stock and when the deals are large. Our findings support the hypothesis that some acquiring firms use stock splits to manipulate their equity values prior to acquisition announcements. Using earnings quality as a proxy for firms' intention to manipulate, we find that acquirers with low earnings quality (i.e., acquirers that are more likely to use stock splits to manipulate their stock values) have lower long‐run stock returns compared with their benchmarks, especially when the deals are financed with stock. In contrast, acquirers with high earnings quality do not show that pattern. Our evidence complements and extends the findings in the literature that some acquirers manipulate their stock prices before stock‐swap acquisitions. This study suggests that target shareholders should use information such as earnings quality and stock splits to discriminate among acquirers and ensure that exchanges are conducted on fair terms. Date: 2008 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:finmgt:v:37:y:2008:i:4:p:695-712 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Financial Management is currently edited by William G. Christie More articles in Financial Management from Financial Management Association International Contact information at EDIRC. |
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