Economic shocks, M&A advisors, and industry takeover activity

The paper examines the role of M&A advisors in propagating takeover activity following economic shocks that affect industry conditions. M&A advisors constitute an important intermediary in the market for corporate control by enhancing M&A success at a transaction level. We posit that, at an industry level, M&A advisors also play a significant role in propagating aggregate merger activity in the wake of an industry shock. The empirical results show a positive, significant relationship between the presence of M&A advisors and industry takeover activity, and offer evidence supporting the incremental role of M&A advisors following industry shocks. The results are robust to empirical strategies aimed at alleviating endogeneity concerns, including using a legislative change as an exogenous shock to M&A advisors and exploring reverse causality. Our evidence offers novel insights on the collective role of M&A advisors in the takeover market.