Mergers and acquisitions represent a complex process of buyout of one company by another one and a subsequent process of reciprocal merge of companies to one successive company. It constitutes in a common business experience a frequently used tool designated to ensure a company growth and to reach a main entrepreneur goal - profit maximization. This effect may be achieved due to the fact that mergers and acquisitions facilitate to enter new markets easily to some extend or to gain access to new product line or to access new technology or know how and finally to improve competitiveness by attaining sufficient size of entrepreneurship or by implementation of economies of scale. To execute such transactions successfully and to maximize all positive effects, one has to take into account several various economic and legal aspects. This transaction is also very complicated and comprises many partial steps emerging from both legal requirements and requirements based on common business experience. On that account the transaction represents also array of risks that have to be minimized. Therefore it is possible that a preparation and implementation of mergers and acquisitions may be perceived from both legal point of view and economic point of view, where each has its own specifics. A goal of this thesis is...

This research contributes to the much-debated literature existing on the relationship between the economy, merger and acquisitions (M&A), and investors’ behaviour by empirically examining the relationship between aggregate M&A transactions, Real GDP and the stock market in the top nine countries with respect to M&A activity globally from the period 1999-2018. Interestingly, according to the cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity tests conducted, the research finds that when a specific country's stock market, Real GDP or M&A activity is affected or influenced in some way, this may also have an affect or influence on the other countries considered in this research as well. Each of the nine countries have some common economic characteristics. Additionally, each country has its system with reference to how the stock market index(s), economic activity and M&A activities influence each other and operate individually. This indicates that an economic relationship between the variables in one country may not be replicated by the others. Furthermore, in a country-by-country causality analysis using the Toda and Yamamoto (1995) approach, the research finds considerable evidence in support of the behavioural school of thought where investors’ behaviour and M&A activity seem to influence each other. Out of the nine countries investigated, six countries support the behavioural school of thought, i.e., show strong to moderate causality between M&A activity (number or value) and stock market price index. On the other hand, with reference to the neoclassical theory, surprisingly, there seems to exist a relationship between M&A activity and economic activity where M&A activity (number or value) leads economic activity in two out of the nine countries investigated. Finally, the research also suggests that economic activity seems to have an impact on how investors behave in six out of the nine countries investigated.

Mergers continue to increase globally. Leaders have a critical role in the success of those mergers based on the practices that they employ during this change phenomenon. This study examines leadership practices within a financial organization during a merger and explores how these practices influence the merger. This study also identifies challenges faced by organizations during the merger process. During this qualitative study, interviews were conducted with 17 leaders to understand what leaders do in times of mergers. Through their stories, they identified leadership practices and described how these practices influenced the merger process. Seven leadership themes emerged from the data including: (a) Providing Strategic Vision, (b) Utilizing Effective Communication, (c) Creating a Positive Organizational Culture, (d) Commitment to Fairness, (e) Effective Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, (f) Problem Solving and Decision Making, and (g) Managing Change and the Unknown. The interviews also provided insights into some of the challenges faced by organizations before, during, and after a merger. A conceptual model grounded in theory helped guide the study. Although the body of literature regarding mergers continues to grow, there has been limited examination about the influence of leadership practices before, during, and after a merger. This study adds to the research literature in two ways. First, it has made a new contribution as academic research dealing with financial institutions and specifically the co-operative movement. Secondly, this study also builds on some of the scholarly work related to the leadership practices as they relate to creating a vision, creating a positive culture, effective communication, commitment to fairness, problem solving and decision making, effective negotiation, and managing change.