Contribution Analysis And Adequacy Of Exchange Ratios In Bank Merger Deals

Consolidation of banks through mergers and acquisitions is an important force of change taking place in the Indian banking sector. The present work investigates the fairness of valuation in bank merger deals occurred in the post-liberalization India. In contrast to the firm valuation which gives an absolute value, merger valuation is a relative valuation which is very important for both bidder and target banks. In other words, the exchange ratios fixed in the deals are very crucial as it will have a major impact on the future prospects of the acquiring bank. To check the authenticity or fairness of valuation, the study uses contribution analysis in two different ways. When the absolute ratios are considered, the deals appear more favourable to the targets as the deal values were very higher to their market capitalization. However, the study finds that target banks got underpaid and the significant increase in the share prices of target banks around the merger announcement cannot be attributed to the valuation aspects. The study is completely based on the financials of banks at the time of merger and other factors including the strategic benefits to both bidder and target banks are ignored.