The Effect of the Acquisition Rate on Post-Acquisition Innovation

Technology acquisitions are one of the most common growth strategies for firms. Firms that have made multiple acquisitions in the past are more likely to make new ones. With previous M&A experience, firms are more likely to make acquisitions. The acquisition rate is the total number of acquisitions a firm has made at a given time. In technology acquisition, the acquisition rate affects innovative firm performance. The more frequent acquisitions a firm makes, the less innovative performance will occur. A high acquisition rate negatively affects post-acquisition performance by dominating the attention of decision-makers and overloading the firm. During the process, there needs to be structural integration between the acquirer and the target firm. This study empirically analyzes 380 cases of technology acquisitions of U.S. publicly traded companies from 1990 to 2005. The results show that a high acquisition rate is negatively related to the post-acquisition innovation performance of the acquirer. Although structural integration has no impact on the negative relationship between post-acquisition performance and acquisition rate, considering the acquisition rate when pursuing M&A allows acquiring firms to avoid detrimental consequences.