Bakgrund: Sedan IFRS infördes år 2005 har goodwill fått en allt mer betydande roll i svenska börsnoterade företag. Idag utgör goodwill majoriteten av köpeskillingen vid rörelseförvärv, vilket går emot grundtanken hos de nuvarande redovisningsstandarderna. Redovisningen av rörelseförvärv enligt IFRS ger företagsledningen stor frihet att använda sitt egna omdöme. Detta har av många påpekats ger plats för opportunistiskt agerande och möjligheter för företag att strategiskt kunna fördela större summor till goodwill. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka huruvida företagens skuldsättningsgrad, storlek och lönsamhet påverkar andelen av köpeskillingen som allokeras till goodwill vid rörelseförvärv. Vidare är syftet att undersöka om företagsledningen i svenska noterade bolag agerar opportunistiskt vid köpeskillingallokeringen i samband med rörelseförvärv. Metod: För att uppnå studiens syfte har en kvantitativ metod använts. I studien undersöks  194 rörelseförvärv gjorda av företag noterade på Large Cap och Mid Cap under perioden 2011-2014. Detta gjordes för att undersöka sambandet mellan företagens skuldsättningsgrad, storlek och lönsamhet och andelen av köpeskillingen som allokeras goodwill. Detta har testats med hjälp av regressionsanalyser. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att företag med lägre lönsamhet tenderar att fördela en större andel av köpeskillingen till goodwill jämfört med företag med högre lönsamhet. Resultatet påvisar även att mindre företag tenderar att allokera en större andel av köpeskilling till goodwill jämfört med större företag. Studien finner dock enbart svaga belägg för att skuldsättningsgrad kan vara en påverkande faktor. Resultatet ger följaktligen indikationer på att företagsledningen agerar opportunistiskt i samband med köpeskillingsallokeringen. / Background: Since adopting IFRS in 2005, goodwill has gained an increasingly significant role in Swedish listed companies. Today, goodwill makes for the majority of the purchase price in business acquisitions, which goes against the basic idea of the current accounting standards. Accounting for business acquisitions under IFRS gives management greater discretion and more room to use their own judgement. This has been pointed out by many to provide room for opportunistic behavior and the opportunity for companies to strategically allocate larger sums to goodwill. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the companies’ leverage, size and profitability affect the percentage of the purchase price allocated to goodwill. Furthermore, the purpose is to examine whether managers in Swedish listed firms act opportunistically in the case of purchase price allocation associated with business acquisitions. Method: To achieve the purpose of the study a quantitative method is used. This study examined 194 business acquisitions made by companies listed on the Large Cap and Mid Cap during the period 2011-2014. This was done to examine the correlation between firm leverage, size and profitability and the proportion of the purchase price allocated to goodwill. This has been tested using regression analysis. Results and conclusion: The results of the study show that companies with lower profitability tend to allocate a greater proportion of the purchase price to goodwill compared with companies with higher profitability. The results also show that smaller companies allocate a larger proportion of the purchase price to goodwill compared with larger companies. The study finds, however, only weak evidence that leverage can be an influencing factor. These results therefore provide indications that management uses their discretion to act opportunistic in the purchase price allocation process.

The topic of business acquisitions has been much debated in 2022, largely due to Microsoft’s record-breaking acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Historically, business acquisitions and their corresponding goodwill values have been a thoroughly examined and debated subject between scholars and regulators due to the complexity and ambiguity of goodwill. Discussions regarding goodwill and acquisitions have been the foundation of many studies throughout the years. However, the effects of accounting standards on the factors of business acquisitions have not been examined thoroughly and therefore represents a knowledge gap in existing accounting literature. This thesis examines the relationship between the accounting standards IFRS and Swedish GAAP and their influence on business acquisitions. The focus of the thesis is on the number of business acquisitions as well as goodwill, or value added, to test if the standards themselves affect these factors. Other elements which could affect these factors are presented to broaden the research and isolate the accounting standard variable.  By examining Swedish business acquisitions during a five-year period, the authors have identified 406 business acquisitions that were of such quality that they could be examined further. The study is inspired by other studies in similar areas, especially a paper written by Kashiwazaki et al. (2019) in which the effect of IFRS adoption on business acquisitions in Japan is researched. However, this study is not focused on adoption, the aim of the research is to examine the impact of the standards themselves. By examining the two accounting standards and their correlation with the frequency of acquisitions as well as change in goodwill, patterns can be identified and conclusions regarding whether accounting standards affect the two factors can be drawn. Several theories are discussed in order to contextualize the research, and different perspectives regarding the acquisitions and goodwill are presented. To broaden the context of the subject, specific theories and their counterparts are presented to get both perspectives of a phenomenon. Agency theory and stewardship theory are explained and compared throughout the thesis and the conclusion of this paper is that stewardship theory is more valid when examining Swedish business acquisitions. Other theories such as the resource-based view are explained and connected to business acquisitions and the results of the thesis. Lastly, motives and benefits behind business acquisitions are discussed and conclusions are drawn based on the results of the tests conducted.  Two OLS regressions with corresponding T-tests for verifications showed a nonsignificant relationship between the dependent and independent variables in both tests. This means that there is no statistical significancy between either of the two factors and accounting standards. These findings suggest that there are other factors that are correlated with the number of business acquisitions and value added and explain the variance in these two factors. Some of the observable factors were the size of the firm, return on assets, operating income among others. In conclusion, there were no indications that accounting standards influence the number of business acquisitions nor value added.

Bakgrund och problemformulering: År 2005 infördes standarden IFRS 3 med syfte att förbättra relevansen, tillförlitligheten och jämförbarheten i de finansiella rapporterna angående rörelseförvärv. Genom standarden infördes regler kring identifieringen av immateriella tillgångar för att kunna särskiljas från goodwill och därmed reducera goodwillposten. Trots regleringen av standarden visar tidigare studier att svenska börsnoterade företag redovisar mer än hälften av övervärden från rörelseförvärv som goodwill. Dessutom finns det indikationer på att IFRS 3 är öppen för egna tolkningar och subjektiva bedömningar som ger företag möjlighet att redovisa olika resultat beroende på hur de tolkar IFRS 3. En faktor som kan påverka ett företags fördelning av övervärden är dess branschtillhörighet, vilket denna studie ämnar undersöka. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och analysera huruvida företagets branschtillhörighet har en påverkan vid fördelning av övervärden. Studien syftar vidare till att undersöka om det råder branschpåverkan vid identifiering av immateriella tillgångar.   Referensram: Studiens referensram utgår från den nyinstitutionella teorin, regelverk inom redovisningen samt tidigare forskning inom ämnet.   Metod: Studien bygger på en kvantitativ metod i form av en komparativ design. Studien utgår från en totalundersökning där 75 företag inom sju branscher jämförts gällande hur de fördelar övervärden vid rörelseförvärv år 2018. Dessutom undersöker denna studie hur de olika branscherna identifierar och kategoriserar immateriella tillgångar.   Resultat och Slutsats: Samtliga undersökta branscher i denna studie fördelade den största andelen av övervärden på goodwill vilket överensstämmer med tidigare studier. Det framgår i denna studie att det råder en branschpåverkan vid identifiering av immateriella tillgångar. Kategorin kundrelaterade tillgångar var vanligast bland samtliga branscher. / Background and research issue: In 2005, the standard IFRS 3 was introduced, aimed to improve the relevance, reliability and comparability of the financial statements regarding business acquisitions. The standard introduced rules for the identification of intangible assets in order to be distinguished from goodwill and thereby reduce the latter. However, despite the new regulations, previous studies show that Swedish listed companies report more than half of the excess values from business acquisitions as goodwill. In addition, there are indications of IFRS 3 being open for alternative and biased interpretations, giving companies the opportunity to show different results. A factor which may influence how a company distributes the excess values is industry affiliation, which this study aims to examine.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine and analyse whether the company’s industry affiliation has an impact on the distribution of excess values. The study also intends to examine whether there is industry impact in identifying intangible assets.   Framework: The framework of the study is based on modern organization theory, regulations in accounting and previous studies in the subject.  Method: This study is based on a quantitative method in the form of a comparative design.  The study is based on a census where 75 companies in seven different industries have been compared as regards to how they distribute excess values of business acquisitions and how the intangible assets are identified and categorised in the different industries.  Results: In all industries examined in this study, the largest part of excess values is distributed as goodwill which corresponds with previous studies. It appears in this study that there is an industry impact during identifying intangible assets. All industries used customer-related intangible assets as the most frequently used category for excess values of business acquisitions.