Choosing the Right Target: Relative preferences for resource similarity and complementarity in acquisition choice

Corporate acquisition is a popular way for firms to grow and obtain innovative resources. However, we know little about why acquirers choose one firm over another. We capture the influence of similarity and complementarity between acquirers’ and target firms’ products (current innovative value) and R&D pipelines (future innovative value) on whether a particular target firm is acquired. Insights from the Pharmaceutical industry reveal that acquirers value similarity and complementarity in target firms differently, based on whether the comparison being made is with respect to their products or their R&D pipelines. Regarding their R&D pipelines, acquirers prefer that the target firm has similar, rather than complementarity, resources. However, the opposite is true concerning their own products: acquirers prefer that the target firm has complementarity, versus similar, resources.

Yu Yu received her PhD degree in Marketing from Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management in 2010. She's currently working at AIG Science as a data scientist in New York, NY, USA (2017). Vithala R. Rao is the Deane Malott Professor of Management and Professor of Marketing and Quantitative Methods, Johnson, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. He is well known for his scholarly contributions to several topics in quantitative marketing and research. He received three prestigious awards: Coolidge Parlin Award, ISMS Fellow and AMA Fellow. Nita Umashankar received her Ph.D. in Marketing in 2010 from The University of Texas at Austin. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Georgia State University.