This thesis examines the impact of announcements of syndicated loans on the share prices of borrowing firms. I use a sample of 5,465 loan observations reported in the International Financing Review Platinum database to study this impact. Event study methodology is used. My overall results show significantly positive wealth effects on the borrowing firms. However, when I partition my data set into revolving credit agreements, term loans and hybrid loans, I find that the results are driven primarily by revolving credit agreements. I also observe that the size of the event window plays an important role in identifying the wealth effects for the borrowers. A five-day event window (-2, +2) shows share price response to revolving credit announcements to be significantly positive. A three-day event window (-1, +1) reveals that announcements are statistically positive for revolving credit agreements and statistically negative for term loan announcements. My results are consistent with previous studies in this area. I also distinguish between financial press announcements and information provider (IFR) announcements to cater for the potential for reporting bias. I find that both the IFR and financial press announcements are significant for the five-day window, but only the financial press results are significant for the three-day window. My study is unique in that I differentiate the impact of different sources of information on the market reaction to borrower share price. In addition to the examination of the wealth effect, I also use the structure of the loans to examine the uniqueness of bank loans and their ability to provide financial slack. Specifically, I examine whether revolving credit loans or term loans or hybrid loans make bank loans unique and their ability to provide financial slack. I observe that out of the three structures of bank loan, only revolving credit loans allow the borrower to more precisely match the funds acquired with the firm’s investment needs and to market time by borrowing at times when financing costs are attractive. Revolving credit loans are positively valued by the market both initially and over the longer term. Bank loans reduce information asymmetry, but the renegotiation characteristics of revolving credit loans allow borrowers to exploit changes in the interest rate environment, thus providing support for the market timing theory of capital structure. In contrast to puzzling results of previous studies, I present evidence of long-term positive performance following bank loans.

This study examines the stock market reaction to new convertible bond (CB) issuing firms in Japan during the period 2009 to 2013. The evidence suggests that issuing firms experience significantly negative abnormal following the announcement dates. The relationship between certain firm characteristics and magnitude of market reaction is also studied. Firm size, leverage and book-to-market ratios are found to have no association with abnormal return following a CB announcement.

This study examines the determinants of private placement discounts and announcement effects on the Stockholm Stock Exchange between 2014 and 2022. The results show that private placement announcement effects are significantly positive, reinforcing the empirical support for the monitoring hypothesis and information hypotheses. Positive announcement effects reflect signals of certification from private equity investors that the firm is undervalued. Regression analysis suggests that information costs and some firm characteristics are important determinants for discounts on private placements. Private equity investors will demand larger discounts when information asymmetry is high, and cash flow restraints are more severe. Foreign investors require significantly smaller discounts on private placements, possibly implying that they commonly assume a passive rather than active role as shareholders. Firms’ stated motivations for private placements and the agreed discounts are significantly related to stock market reactions. Specifically, motivations relating to an investment in a new project or an acquisition are associated with significantly more positive announcement effects.

This dissertation consists of two self-contained chapters that empirically examine bidder firm returns of U.S. companies in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. In chapter one I examine how cultural distance between bidder and target country impacts internalization benefits. The results suggest that shareholders are initially concerned about the acquisition in culturally distant countries, which outweighs any potential benefits from internalization. However, in the long-run we observe a significant reversal of these findings. In the second and third year following the announcement, greater cultural distance positively impacts the bidder firm's operating performance and the bidder experiences significant internalization benefits from technological know-how when cultural distance is great. Long-run calendar-time returns further support this finding. These results add to the existing literature by highlighting the importance of cultural distance when examining internalization benefits. In chapter two I attempt to explain abnormal bidder firms' returns in cross-border mergers and acquisitions by comparing the first-mover hypothesis to the late-mover hypothesis. I also study the reactions of rival firms to bidder firm announcements as a further test of the first-mover hypothesis. The findings suggest that cross-border acquisitions are generally value-destroying for strategic pioneers unless cultural distance between the U.S. and the target country is great. Further, I find positive announcement effects for followers as long as cultural distance is small.

This paper uses event study methodology to present evidence that acquirer announcement effects for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the American Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry are insignificant. In order to reach this conclusion, this paper both examines existing literature on the topic and manipulates available data on public companies in the M&E industry. It also uses this data to investigate the extent to which different factors influence the acquirer announcement effects. These factors include: the type of financing used for the deal, recent mega-merger failures in the M&E industry, M&A strategy (expansion vs. diversification), as well as target size, country, and sub- industry. The results show that none of these factors have a significant impact on announcement effects.

Many studies have been performed on the short- and long-run abnormal returns to acquirers in acquisition attempts, but the topic of bidding wars is relatively unexplored. This piece performs an in-depth analysis of daily returns to both the public winners and losers in bidding war situations. It provides a counterargument to earlier findings that found that winners in bidding wars performed poorly compared to losers. I also fill in the gap in the analysis of short-term returns to paired winners and losers during and surrounding the bidding war. I find that winners perform significantly better than losers during certain critical periods in the bidding war, and this appears to signal the increased likelihood of the winner’s success. However, in the short-term, the market consistently misjudges the direction of the long-run benefits of the acquisition to the winner.

The hospitality industry, with its dynamic business environment, has experienced unprecedented disruption and reconfiguration due to the emergence and success of sharing economy firms and online travel agencies. This turbulence calls for effective governance structures that can motivate managers to act in their shareholders' best interests. Despite the importance of effective corporate governance for firm performance and the topic receiving extensive scholarly attention in the management and finance literatures, there seem to be several gaps and mixed findings in the hospitality academic field. To facilitate scholarly advancement, identify gaps in the current knowledge base, and provide direction for future research, in the first essay I undertake a systematic review of research on corporate governance in the hospitality literature. Based on 115 peer-reviewed articles published since 1961, I identify 21 themes explored by scholars, and find that topics related to institutional ownership, executive compensation determinants, board size, and merger and acquisition (MandA) outcomes are commonly examined, whereas topics related to family ownership, debt, and regulation/law are seldom explored. This review contributes to the literature by taking stock of what we know and offering a one-stop-shop for scholars to understand and extend corporate governance literature published in the hospitality field. While evidence in the general business literature suggests that targets, instead of acquirers, are better off after the acquisition, limited studies in the hospitality industry have shown that both bidders and targets are better off after the merger, suggesting that MandAs are more successful in the hospitality industry than in other industries. In the second essay, I empirically examine whether this is indeed the case and what may explain the potential discrepancy in merger performance. Using a comparative study design and a comprehensive sample over 41 years, I find that overall acquirers gain from MandAs, and hospitality MandAs outperform non-hospitality MandAs. Bidders in the hospitality industry are more likely than non-hospitality bidders to acquire large, related targets, using an all-cash mode of payment. Except for industry relatedness, relative size, cash payment, and unlisted target are all positively related to merger performance. This study contributes to the literature by identifying several factors that can explain the differences in MandA performance between hospitality and non-hospitality firms. Despite the fact that MandAs are frequently pursued as a growth strategy in the hospitality industry, their effect on chief executive officer (CEO) compensation has not been systematically examined. Considering that CEO compensation is an important topic related to firm performance, management, and social responsibility, in the third essay I examine the relationship between MandAs and CEO compensation in a sample of hospitality firms consisting of 1,514 firm-year observations over a period of 27 years. The regression analyses find that CEO compensation is significantly higher in the year after large acquisitions; well-governed firms identified via tenure, the Entrenchment-index, and board independence pay their CEOs higher post-acquisition than poorly-governed firms; the fraction of equity-based compensation is unrelated to MandA propensity; and the fraction of cash-based compensation is negatively related to MandA propensity. The additional analyses indicate that CEOs are rewarded for positive stock returns but not penalized for negative stock returns, and even more so in well-governed firms after acquisition. This study finds that MandAs and corporate governance are determinants of CEO compensation and the form of CEO compensation matters to acquisition decisions in hospitality firms. The findings are of importance for shareholders and the board of directors to design compensation plans that align the interests of managers and shareholders. / Doctor of Philosophy / The hospitality industry, with its dynamic business environment, has experienced unprecedented disruption and reconfiguration due to the emergence and success of sharing economy firms and online travel agencies. This turbulence calls for effective governance structures that can motivate managers to act in their shareholders' best interests. Despite the importance of effective corporate governance for firm performance and the topic receiving extensive scholarly attention in the management and finance literatures, there seem to be several gaps and mixed findings in the hospitality academic field. To facilitate scholarly advancement, identify gaps in the current knowledge base, and provide direction for future research, in the first essay I undertake a systematic review of research on corporate governance in the hospitality literature, and find that topics related to institutional ownership, executive compensation determinants, board size, and merger and acquisition (MandA) outcomes are commonly examined, whereas topics related to family ownership, debt, and regulation/law are seldom explored. This review contributes to the literature by taking stock of what we know and offering a one-stop-shop for scholars to understand and extend corporate governance literature published in the hospitality field. In the second essay, I empirically examine whether MandAs are more successful in the hospitality industry than in other industries and what may explain the potential discrepancy in merger performance. I find that overall acquirers gain from MandAs, and hospitality MandAs outperform non-hospitality MandAs. Bidders in the hospitality industry are more likely than non-hospitality bidders to acquire large, related targets, using an all-cash mode of payment. Except for industry relatedness, relative size, cash payment, and unlisted target are all positively related to merger performance. This study contributes to the literature by identifying several factors that can explain the differences in MandA performance between hospitality and non-hospitality firms. In the third essay I examine the relationship between MandAs and CEO compensation in a sample of hospitality firms, and find that CEO compensation is significantly higher in the year after large acquisitions; well-governed firms identified via tenure, the Entrenchment-index, and board independence pay their CEOs higher post-acquisition than poorly-governed firms; the fraction of equity-based compensation is unrelated to MandA propensity; and the fraction of cash-based compensation is negatively related to MandA propensity. The additional analyses indicate that CEOs are rewarded for positive stock returns but not penalized for negative stock returns, and even more so in well-governed firms after acquisition. This study finds that MandAs and corporate governance are determinants of CEO compensation and the form of CEO compensation matters to acquisition decisions in hospitality firms. The findings are of importance for shareholders and the board of directors to design compensation plans that align the interests of managers and shareholders.

隨著台灣加入世界貿易組織(WTO)及國際資本市場進一步地整合，國際融資工具如海外存託憑證及海外可轉換公司債近年來備受企業的喜愛，成為企業進行海外市場擴張的一大利器。尤其近二、三年來台灣更掀起發行海外可轉換公司債的籌資風潮。本研究目的在了解此現象對公司價值的影響及市場投資人相關的反應。 本文針對1993至2001年間台灣上市、上櫃公司成功發行的61檔國內可轉換公司債及35檔海外可轉換公司債進行實證研究，主要結論如下： 1. 宣告發行時的訊息效果方面，ECB發行公司不論是宣告發行前後一週或二週的股價累積異常報酬都顯著為正，但CB發行公司卻不然，前者優於後者。 2. 發行海外可轉換公司債及國內可轉換公債發行公司特性差異方面，不論是二獨立樣本T檢定、Mann-Whitney U 檢定及Logistic檢定，結論皆一致：公司規模愈大，轉換溢價幅度愈高、市場利率差愈高的公司愈易傾向發行海外可轉換公司債。此外，二種發行公司發行前的營運績效並無顯著不同。 3. ECB和CB宣告發行時價格效果的不同，和「與國內籌資相比，發行海外可轉換公司債有較高的融資空間」的假設無關，融資空間假設不成立；但和「與國內籌資相比，發行海外可轉換公司債的融資成本較低」的假設有關，融資成本假設成立。 4. 投資人對公司轉換溢價隱含的對未來股價成長的信心及未來資金成本的降低才是解釋宣告發行時價格效果的因子。 5. 投資人給予海外可轉換公司債相對較高的短期價格反應確實表現在海外可轉換公司債發行公司長期較佳的營運績效上。 / With Taiwan’s entrance to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and further integration among international capital markets, international financing tools, such as Global Depositary Receipt (GDR) and European Convertible Bond (ECB) have become popular. For the past few years especially, companies in Taiwan have heavily used ECB as their leading financing tools. This study focuses on how investors in Taiwan response to the issue of ECB and CB. Using 61 CB and 35 ECB samples from Taiwan companies during 1993 and 2001, this study comes to the conclusions as follows: 1. Companies that issue ECB have higher announcement effects than companies that issue CB. 2. Companies with larger size, higher conversion premiums, and higher interest spreads tend to issue ECB instead of CB. There is no significant difference between the pre-issue performance between ECB and CB companies. 3. The hypothesis that “ECB companies have higher debt capacities than CB companies” is not verified. However, the hypothesis that “ECB companies have lower cost of capital than CB companies” is supported. 4. The conversion premium that signals companies’ confidence for the stock price and lower cost of capital in the future is the main factor to explain the announcement effects of ECB and CB. 5. In comparison to CB companies, ECB companies have better post-issue performance which can be supported by their better announcement effects.

本研究探討台灣上市櫃公司發行可轉債及現金增資的決策議題。從發行公司的角度來看，利用錯誤評價及成長機會，同時輔以一些公司特徵變數以了解發行動機。後續並追蹤發行公司發行後資金運用情形，以了解發行公司發行動機及目的是否一致。另一方面，從投資人角度來看，觀察可轉債及現金增資公司宣告效果，並由後續資金配置驗證宣告效果之可靠性。 本研究採用Rhodes-Kropf, Robinson and Viswanathan(2005)提出的方法，將市值帳面比(M/B)拆解成錯誤評價與成長機會。以2001年至2011年台灣上市上櫃公司發行可轉債或現金增資為研究對象，發現無論是可轉債或現金增資，發行公司發行前錯誤評價及成長機會皆顯著較未發行公司高。接著，利用logit模型，發現可轉債發行公司之成長機會及代理問題為其主要發行動機，而現金增資公司則利用資訊不對稱擇時與調整資本結構為發行考量。本文進一步檢視發行後資金配置情況，發現成長機會越高之可轉債，後續資金用途顯著投資於資本支出與研發費用上，符合實質投資理論之觀點。另一方面，錯誤評價越高之現金增資，在前兩年有累積現金之現象，但不用於償還長期負債，且顯著運用於資本支出與研發費用上，僅部分符合行為理論之解釋。因此，本研究歸納現金增資公司發行動機除擇時外，亦有投資需求。最後，在宣告效果上，可轉債與現金增資均呈現負向宣告效果，且投資人給予現金增資較為負向的宣告效果，本文認為此乃投資人意識到公司利用資訊不對稱擇時，且後續資金配置不完全符合行為理論的預期造成的結果。 / This study examines the issuance of convertible bonds (CBs) and seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) for listed companies in TSE and OTC market in Taiwan. From the aspects of issuers, we use mispricing and growth opportunities along with other firm characteristics to understand the motivation of the issuance. We also track the use of post-issue proceeds and relate to the motivations of issuers. From the aspects of investors, we look at the announcement effects to examine appropriateness. We decompose market-to-book ratios into mispricing and growth option components through a methodology proposed by Rhodes-Kropf, Robinson and Viswanathan (2005). By using the samples of CB and SEO issuance between 2001 and 2011, we find that issuing firms of both types are overvalued and have greater growth opportunities relative to non-issuers. Next, we find that CB issuers show greater pre-issue growth opportunities and agency problems, while SEO issuers have greater pre-issue mispricing and tend to adjust capital structure implied by logit model. Furthermore, we examine the post-issue use of proceeds. For CB, firms with greater growth opportunities invest more in capital expenditures and R&D, consistent with real investment explanations. On the other hand, for SEO, firms with greater mispricing stockpile cash in the first two years but don’t pay down long-term debt. They also invest in capital expenditures and R&D. Thus, we conclude that the motivation of SEO firms might be timing and investment needs, partly consistent with behavioral explanations. Finally, the announcement effect of SEO is more negative than CB. Judging from the evidence above, it seems that investors know something.