外文翻译--欧洲、美国的跨国并购经验.docVIP

外文翻译 原文 Cross-border mergers and acquisitions: the European–US experience 1. Factors motivating cross-border acquisitions In her extensive discussion of the merger and acquisition process McDonagh Bengtsson (1990) proposes that the following factors motivate many companies to acquire foreign firms: the desire to spread products and diversify risks geographically; to gain back-up products; to exploit synergies; and to attain economies of scale. However, she cautions that workforce problems, poor facilities, as well as social and technological differences may expose the acquiring company to new risks. Other studies in the area of cross-border acquisitions attribute the pattern of acquisitions to several competing factors, both favorable and unfavorable. The discussion that follows surveys a sampling of these factors, examining first the favorable acquisition variables (i.e. variables that appear to influence the firm’s concerned with cross-border deals), then the unfavorable ones. We pay particular attention to those factors more directly related to the countries under study. 1.1. Favorable acquisition factors Although there are a number of factors that favor acquisition activity, we focus on those that seem to affect cross-border acquisitions between the US and the EU. These factors include exchange rates, diversification, and economic conditions in the home country, as well as technology and human resources. 1.1.1. Exchange rates Current and forecasted future exchange rates affect the home currency equivalent of acquisition prices, as well as the present value of future cash flows accruing to the acquired firm; therefore, the dominant effect in any particular case is ultimately an empirical question. Existing studies, predictably, arrive at different conclusions concerning the role of exchange rates. For example, Froot and Stein (1991) propose that, while there is a relationship between the exchange rates and acquisition activity, there is no evidence that a chang