Research Article
Open access
Published on 26 December 2024
Download pdf
Chen,Y. (2024). A Strategic Guide to Cross-Border Acquisitions by Multinational Companies: An Analysis Based on Success and Failure Cases. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,128,134-139.
Export citation

A Strategic Guide to Cross-Border Acquisitions by Multinational Companies: An Analysis Based on Success and Failure Cases

Yuchen Chen *,1,
  • 1 University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2754-1169/2024.18733

Abstract

This article analyzes the factors for success and failure in cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) through the cases of Geely's acquisition of Volvo in Sweden and TCL's acquisition of Thomson in France. After Geely acquired Volvo achieved short-term profitability, market share growth, and long-term knowledge and technology integration. Its success includes reducing acquisition risks, the importance of top management's decision-making, innovation and development and strategic transformation after the acquisition, and precise market grasp. However, after TCL acquired Thomson, its performance was poor, facing issues such as reduced net profit and market losses. The reasons for failure include ineffective integration and innovation of resources, differences in the social regulatory environment between the two countries leading to management difficulties, and insufficient assessment of project rationality and risks. Finally, suggestions are provided for multinational companies conducting CBAs, emphasizing the importance of pre-acquisition assessment, teams and valuation during the acquisition, resource integration after the acquisition, and the crucial role of the decision-making process, which needs to be analyzed specifically in different situations.

Keywords

cross-border, acquisitions, decision-making, strategic

[1]. Chen, Yuanyi Amy. Wang, Xinran Joyce. And Young, Michael N. 2015 “Geely Automotive's Acquisition of Volvo.” Asian case research journal. Vol.19 (1), p.183-202. doi: 10.1142/S0218927515500078.

[2]. Konda, Primoz. Slepniov, Dmitrij. And Jin, Jun. 2022. “From transaction to co-creation in Geely's acquisition of Volvo Cars: impact on innovation output and market performance.” Asian journal of technology innovation. Vol.ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), p.1-25. doi: 10.1080/19761597.2022.2133777.

[3]. Rakita, Brank. And Markovic, Dusan. 2014. “THE PROSPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL ACQUISITIONS IN CAR INDUSTRY DURING THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS - THE CASE OF GEELY VOLVO.” Journal of economic and social development (Varaždin). Vol.1 (1), p.159. url:https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/prospects-international-acquisitions-car-industry/docview/1707516158/se-2.

[4]. Li, Yu. Redding, K.S. And Xie, En. 2021. “Organizational characteristics of cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A synthesis and classic case examples from around the world.” Jurnal of Organizational Change Management. Vol.34 (1), p.223-251. doi:10.1108/JOCM-01-2017-0008.

[5]. Wu, Xianming. Yang, Xingrui. Yang, Haibin. And Lei, Hao. 2016. “Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions by Chinese Firms: value creation or value destruction?” The Journal of contemporary China. Vol.25 (97), p.130-145. doi:10.1080/10670564.2015.1060769.

[6]. Rugman, Alan M. Nguyen, Quyen T. K. Wei, Ziyi. 2016. “Rethinking the Literature on the Performance of Chinese Multinational Enterprises.” Management and organization review. Vol.12 (2), p.269-302.doi:10.1017/mor.2016.13.

[7]. Ai, Qi. Tan, Hui. 2017. “Acquirers’ prior related knowledge and post-acquisition integration.” Journal of organizational change management. Vol.30 (4), p.647-662.doi:10.1108/JOCM-08-2015-0145.

[8]. Zhou, Chenxi. Xie, Jinhong. Wang, Qi. 2016. “Failure to Complete Cross-Border M&As: "To" vs. "From" Emerging Markets.” Journal of international business studies. Vol.47 (9), p.1077-1105. DOI: 10.1057/s41267-016-0027-y

[9]. Cui, Miao. Dong, Crystal. Liu, Yuekun. Wang, Shujuan. 2016. “A cultural integration path for cross-border mergers and acquisitions from the perspective of acculturation: A double case study.” Nankai business review international. Vol.7 (3), p.395-422. doi:10.1108/NBRI-01-2016-0005.

[10]. Brink, Tobias ten. 2015. “Chinese firms ‘going global’: Recent OFDI trends, policy support, and international implications.” International politics (Hague, Netherlands). Vol.52 (6), p.666-683. doi:10.1057/ip.2015.19.

[11]. Li, Jiatao. Wan, Guoguang. 2016. “China's Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions: A Contextual Distance Perspective.” Management and organization review. Vol.12 (3), p.449-456. doi:10.1017/mor.2016.23.

Cite this article

Chen,Y. (2024). A Strategic Guide to Cross-Border Acquisitions by Multinational Companies: An Analysis Based on Success and Failure Cases. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,128,134-139.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis

Conference website: https://2024.icftba.org/
ISBN:978-1-83558-785-0(Print) / 978-1-83558-786-7(Online)
Conference date: 4 December 2024
Editor:Ursula Faura-Martínez
Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences
Volume number: Vol.128
ISSN:2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).