This thesis aims to examine whether a merger arbitrage strategy is able to generate market neutral alpha in the Nordic region. Similar studies of merger arbitrage strategies in both the US and Australian market find market neutral alpha. To investigate the viability of such a strategy, we developed a “Merger arbitrage portfolio” which invests in 55 deals during 2003-2017 in the Nordic equity capital market. Our findings provide strong support that a merger arbitrage strategy is market neutral, even in times of financial turmoil. An excess return is recorded, however, when estimating the portfolio with the Market Model we find no statistically significant alpha. The results are affected by large outliers. We conclude that our version of the merger arbitrage strategy is not an optimal investment in terms of its Sharpe Ratio, compared to an index using a similar strategy and the stock market.

Submitted by Rafael Fernandes Piva (rafa_piva@hotmail.com) on 2016-02-12T16:30:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado - Rafael F. Piva.pdf: 987410 bytes, checksum: 36bea23e31284f38f87f91afe08988b9 (MD5) / Rejected by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br), reason: Rafael, boa tarde Para que possamos aceitar seu trabalho junto à biblioteca, realizar os seguintes ajustes conforme normas da ABNT: - Verificar a configuração da página, pois no arquivo em pdf NA CAPA, consta seu nome abaixo da data. (nome que deveria estar na contracapa) - Ainda na capa, o título deve estar em letras maiúsculas. - Alterar 2015 para 2016 pois foi quando você realizou a apresentação. Em seguida submeter o arquivo novamente. Att on 2016-02-12T19:12:29Z (GMT) / Submitted by Rafael Fernandes Piva (rafa_piva@hotmail.com) on 2016-02-12T19:23:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado - Rafael F. Piva.pdf: 988291 bytes, checksum: b72928664fcbb314404c2d51b74fa4fc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2016-02-12T19:28:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado - Rafael F. Piva.pdf: 988291 bytes, checksum: b72928664fcbb314404c2d51b74fa4fc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-15T11:28:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado - Rafael F. Piva.pdf: 988291 bytes, checksum: b72928664fcbb314404c2d51b74fa4fc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-19 / O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar os retornos de um portfólio investido na estratégia de risk arbitrage no Brasil entre 2004 e 2014, determinando se esta estratégia proporciona retornos anormais. De setembro de 2004 a dezembro de 2014, o portfólio de risk arbitrage gerou, depois de deduzidos os custos, um retorno anualizado de 14,40%, enquanto que o ativo livre de risco gerou retornos de 11,60% e o Índice Bovespa gerou 12,62%. Os resultados indicam que, usando-se tanto o CAPM como o modelo de três fatores de Fama e French (1993), a estratégia proporciona retornos anormais. Um segundo objetivo desse estudo é analisar se a distribuição dos retornos dessa estratégia é assimétrica. As evidências apontam para assimetria na distribuição dos retornos. Em função disto, foi utilizada a metodologia de Contingent Claims, que controla o efeito da relação não linear com os retornos de mercado, para analisar se mesmo assim a estratégia oferece retornos anormais. Com essa metodologia, não foram encontrados retornos anormais estatisticamente significativos. Por fim, o último objetivo desse estudo é analisar se o payoff da estratégia de risk arbitrage é análogo ao payoff da venda de uma put. Não foram encontradas evidências de que o payoff seja análogo ao da venda de uma opção de venda. / This study aims to analyze the returns of a portfolio invested in risk arbitrage strategy in Brazil between 2004 and 2014, determining whether this strategy provides abnormal returns. From September 2004 to December 2014, the portfolio of risk arbitrage generated, after costs, an annualized return of 14.40%, while the risk-free asset generated returns of 11.60%, and the Bovespa Index generated 12.62%. The results indicate that, using both the CAPM and the Fama and French (1993) three-factor model, the strategy provides abnormal returns. A second objective of this study is to analyze if the distribution of returns of this strategy is asymmetric. The evidence points to asymmetry in the distribution of returns. On that basis, it was used the methodology of Contingent Claims, which controls the effect of non-linear relationship between portfolio and market returns to analyze if the strategy still offers abnormal returns. With this methodology, no statistically significant abnormal returns were found. Finally, the ultimate goal of this study is to analyze whether the payoff of risk arbitrage strategy is analogous to that of selling a put option. No statistically significant evidence that the payoff is analogous to shorting a put option was found.

Cette thèse se compose de trois essais empiriques qui étudient l'impact de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE) dans les opérations de fusions et acquisitions (F&A). Le premier chapitre traite de la relation entre la performance RSE des firmes et leur propension à faire l'objet d'offres de rachats. Nous constatons que la performance RSE des firmes est positivement liée à la probabilité qu'elles ont d'être ciblées dans le cadre d'opérations de F&A, et que la performance RSE des firmes ciblées est supérieure en moyenne à celle d'entreprises similaires mais non-ciblées. Dans le deuxième essai, nous nous intéressons à la relation entre la performance RSE des firmes ciblées dans le cadre d'opérations de F&A et la prime d’acquisition offerte par les acquéreurs. Nous constatons que la performance RSE des firmes ciblées est positivement liée à la prime d'acquisition offerte. Nous constatons que la prime d'acquisition est en partie expliquée par la performance environnementale et la performance sociale, mais que la performance sociale n’a d’impact que dans le cadre des opérations transfrontalières. Enfin, dans le troisième essai, nous analysons l'impact de la performance RSE des acquéreurs sur l'incertitude entourant les opérations de F&A. Nous trouvons une relation négative entre la performance RSE des acquéreurs et le spread d'arbitrage, suggérant que les opérations de F&A menées par des acquéreurs à forte performance RSE sont perçues comme ayant une probabilité accrue de réussite. Globalement, nos résultats suggèrent que la performance RSE détermine de manière statistiquement significative les décisions de F&A et leurs perceptions par les acteurs de marché. / This thesis consists of three empirical essays investigating the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In the first essay, we investigate whether the CSR performance of firms impacts their propensity to become M&A targets. We find that the CSR performance of firms is positively related to takeover likelihood. We also show that the CSR performance of target firms is higher on average than the CSR performance of comparable non-target firms. In the second essay, we study the relationship between M&A targets’ CSR performance and the acquisition premium offered by acquirers. We show that CSR is positively and significantly associated with the premium offered by acquirers. We also find that the premium is explained by the environmental and social performances of firms but that social performance only commands a premium in the case of cross-border transactions. Finally, in the third essay, we analyze the impact of acquirers' CSR performance on M&A deal uncertainty. We document a negative association between arbitrage spreads and acquirers' CSR performance, showing that deal uncertainty decreases when M&A operations are initiated by high-CSR acquirers. Overall, our results suggest that CSR performance is a significant determinant of M&A decisions and expected outcomes.