Graduation Semester and Year
2021
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Accounting
Department
Accounting
First Advisor
Stephanie Rasmussen
Abstract
The role of a firm’s in-house top legal executives has become more prominent in recent years due to regulatory changes, increasing litigation, and growing risk and liability in the corporate world. Top legal executives act as trusted advisers to top management and board of directors in strategic decision-making. In this dissertation, I develop a measure of top legal executive influence in the acquiring firm and examine whether the top legal executive’s influence is associated with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process and outcomes. I find that top legal executive influence is associated with shorter public process length (deal announcement to deal closing) and enhanced deal completion rate. These associations exist after controlling for potential endogeneity. The findings suggest that top legal executives create value for acquirers in their role as deal advisers. However, I find no associations between top legal executive influence and the private process length or the contract terms (acquisition premium, termination fee provisions). These non-results may derive from the tension of top legal executives balancing their various roles as gatekeepers, executives, and transaction lawyers.
Keywords
Legal executives, Mergers and acquisitions, M&A
Disciplines
Accounting | Business
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Wang, Suye, "TOP LEGAL EXECUTIVES AND MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS PROCESS AND OUTCOMES" (2021). Accounting Dissertations. 44.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/accounting_dissertations/44
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington