The Influence of Mergers and Acquisitions on Innovation Activity of Technology Companies

The paper explores an impact of mergers and acquisitions on innovation activity of technology companies. There are many determinants of the future success of an M&A deal. The characteristics of M&A deal participants’ patents bases are among the determinants of post-acquisition innovation performance. That is why the research considers a deal as an acquisition of knowledge base, which can be similar or different to the knowledge base of acquirer. Research method is a regression analysis based on the data of technology companies which have participated in M&A deals in 2004-2014. The research uses a number of patents as a characteristic of innovative output of the company to observe an effect of M&A deal on quantity of innovation activity in a post-acquisition company. The ratio between research and development expenditures and total revenue of the company is used to indicate R&D intensity of the company. The research considers technology similarity of knowledge bases to be a determinant of innovation inputs and outputs of an acquirer. The study shows that similarity of acquirer’s and target’s patent bases has a curvilinear effect on R&D intensity and patenting activity of acquirer. It means that the highest level of innovation inputs and innovation outputs is achieved when knowledge bases of the deal participants are neither too similar, nor too different. It also reveals short-term decrease in patent output after a deal.