Consolidation in the European Insurance Industry: Do Mergers and Acquisitions Create Value for Shareholders?

Abstract

Deregulation of the European financial services market during the 1990s led to an unprecedented wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the insurance industry. From 1990-2002 there were 2,595 M&As involving European insurers of which 1,669 resulted in a change in control. This paper investigates whether M&As in the European insurance market create value for shareholders by studying the stock price impact of M&A transactions on target and acquiring firms. The analysis shows that European M&As created small negative cumulative average abnormal returns CAARs) for acquirers (generally less than 1%) and substantial positive CAARs for targets (in the range of 12% to 15%). Cross-border transactions were value-neutral for acquirers, whereas within-border transactions led to significant value loss (approximately 2%) for acquirers. For targets, both cross-border and within-border transactions led to substantial value-creation.