Mergers & Acquisitions in the European Union. Acquisition Activity & Economic Performance

Abstract

The paper is focused on the relationship between the level of acquisition activity and the external conditions in which transactions occur or further develop. It deals with the dependence between acquisition activity and economic performance, and, at the same time, with the dependence between acquisition activity and the tax rate. Acquisition activity is presented by the indicator 3M: the M-total, indicator of the total number of transactions, M-score, indicator of the transaction frequency, and M-index, showing the position within a given unit. The paper surveys acquisition activity in individual EU countries, confrms the dependence between acquisition activity levels and economic performance, and maintains that the tax rate is a signifcant factor contributing to the given country´s acquisition activity level.

Keywords

• acquisition activity
• acquisition activity indicators
• acquisition strategy
• mergers & acquisitions
• M-index
• M-score
• M-total