Diversification, Refocusing, and Firm Value

Diversification, Refocusing, and Firm Value PDF Author: Gonul Colak
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 27

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Book Description
At any point in time a firm faces three restructuring choices: diversify, refocus, or do nothing. This study analyzes the causes and the consequences of these actions in a unified framework using the appropriate methodologies. Various factors, such as firm's characteristics and multinational nature, its industry's characteristics, its exchange and index inclusion, and divested (or acquired) segment(s)' industry conditions, are considered as the determinants of the diversifying and the refocusing decisions. The estimation results from the corresponding multinomial logit model suggest that refocusing occurs generally due to firm-specific reasons, and diversification due to outside factors, such as industry and economic conditions. Added or dropped segment's industry profitability, its relationship to the core business of the firm, and its relatedness to the businesses of the conglomerate's other segments have a nontrivial effect on either decision. In a related analysis, the paper explicitly models and estimates the valuation consequences that are sustained by the firm after it undertakes a refocusing or a diversification action. To isolate the changes in firm's value that are due to these decisions only, a 2SLS estimation is used to control for endogeneity that arises because the factors that affect a firm's value are likely to have also induced the firm to make the corresponding decision. The novelty of my approach is in its inclusion of variables measuring the consequences due to both actions, the diversification and the refocusing, in the same valuation equation. Contrary to some earlier findings, I find no evidence of 'diversification discount' or 'refocusing premium.' The choice of this paper to analyze all corporate restructuring decisions in a unified framework yields valuable business insights into the reasons for undertaking such corporate events.

Diversification, Refocusing, and Firm Value

Diversification, Refocusing, and Firm Value PDF Author: Gonul Colak
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 27

Get Book Here

Book Description
At any point in time a firm faces three restructuring choices: diversify, refocus, or do nothing. This study analyzes the causes and the consequences of these actions in a unified framework using the appropriate methodologies. Various factors, such as firm's characteristics and multinational nature, its industry's characteristics, its exchange and index inclusion, and divested (or acquired) segment(s)' industry conditions, are considered as the determinants of the diversifying and the refocusing decisions. The estimation results from the corresponding multinomial logit model suggest that refocusing occurs generally due to firm-specific reasons, and diversification due to outside factors, such as industry and economic conditions. Added or dropped segment's industry profitability, its relationship to the core business of the firm, and its relatedness to the businesses of the conglomerate's other segments have a nontrivial effect on either decision. In a related analysis, the paper explicitly models and estimates the valuation consequences that are sustained by the firm after it undertakes a refocusing or a diversification action. To isolate the changes in firm's value that are due to these decisions only, a 2SLS estimation is used to control for endogeneity that arises because the factors that affect a firm's value are likely to have also induced the firm to make the corresponding decision. The novelty of my approach is in its inclusion of variables measuring the consequences due to both actions, the diversification and the refocusing, in the same valuation equation. Contrary to some earlier findings, I find no evidence of 'diversification discount' or 'refocusing premium.' The choice of this paper to analyze all corporate restructuring decisions in a unified framework yields valuable business insights into the reasons for undertaking such corporate events.

Diversification, Refocusing, and Economic Performance

Diversification, Refocusing, and Economic Performance PDF Author: Constantinos Markides
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262133111
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This work examines the causes and consequences of the "refocusing" phenomenon, where companies have stopped diversifying and begun focusing once more on their core product lines. Coverage includes a discussion of the effects of refocusing on market value, profitability and organizational structure.

Explaining the Diversification Discount

Explaining the Diversification Discount PDF Author: José Manuel Campa
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
Diversified firms trade at a discount relatively to similar single-segment firms. We argue in this paper that this observed discount is not per se evidence that diversification destroys value. Firms choose to diversify. Firm characteristics, which make firms diversify, might also causethem to be discounted. Not taking into account these firm characteristics might wrongly attribute the observed discount to diversification. Data from the Compustat Industry Segment File from 1978 to 1996 is used to select a sample of single segment and diversifying firms. We use three alternative econometric techniques to control for the endogeneity of the diversification decision.All three methods suggest the presence of self-selection in the decision to diversify and that a negative correlation exists between firm's choice to diversify and firm value. We do a similar analysis in a sample of refocusing firms. Again, some evidence of self-selection by firms exists and we now find a positive correlation between firm's choice to refocus and firm value. Theseresults consistently suggest the importance of taking the endogeneity of the diversification status into account in analyzing its effect on firm value.

The Effect of Forced Refocusing on the Value of Diversified Firms

The Effect of Forced Refocusing on the Value of Diversified Firms PDF Author: John G. Matsusaka
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description
This paper studies how investors responded when Chinese regulators required a group of large, publicly traded companies to divest their non-core hotel and real estate assets in 2010. The quasi-experiment allows direct estimates of the effect of diversification on value that are free from common selection problems in the literature. On average, stock prices rose 1 to 2 percent in response to forced refocusing, suggesting that corporate diversification was a value-destroying strategy for those firms. The implied "excess value/diversification discount" has at best a weak connection to the announcement return. The abnormal return was most positive for companies in which the ultimate controller had small cash flow rights, suggesting that investors were concerned with the possibility of tunneling.

Causes and Effects of Corporate Refocusing

Causes and Effects of Corporate Refocusing PDF Author: Philip G. Berger
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
We study the precursors and outcomes of refocusing episodes by 107 diversified firms that were not taken over between 1984 and 1993. These firms had more value-reducing diversification policies than diversified firms that did not refocus. However, major disciplinary or incentive-altering events (including management turnover, outside shareholder pressure, changes in management compensation, and financial distress) usually occurred before refocusing took place. The cumulative abnormal returns over a firm's refocusing-related announcements averaged 7.3%, and were significantly related to the amount of value-reduction associated with the refocuser's diversification policy.

Managerial Expertise, Corporate Decisions and Firm Value

Managerial Expertise, Corporate Decisions and Firm Value PDF Author: Sheng Huang
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 59

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Book Description
This paper investigates how managerial expertise -- specifically, industry expertise -- affects firm value through divestiture. Using CEOs' managerial experiences in industries throughout their careers as a measure of their industry expertise, I find that CEOs in diversified conglomerates are more likely to divest divisions in industries in which they have less experience. This finding is consistent with CEOs who divest such divisions in order to refocus on those divisions in which they have specialized -- that is, to achieve a better match between their expertise and their firms' retained assets. Firms that divest for a better CEO-firm match experience significant improvements in operating performance, as well as significant abnormal stock returns that persist for an average of three years following a divestiture. Further, among firms that divest for a better match, those firms with more experienced CEOs realize greater gains in firm value. In contrast, divestitures that increase corporate focus, but do not improve the expertise-asset match, do not lead to long-run increases in firm value.

Valuation Effects of Overconfident CEOs on Corporate Diversification and Refocusing Decisions

Valuation Effects of Overconfident CEOs on Corporate Diversification and Refocusing Decisions PDF Author: Panayiotis C. Andreou
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 71

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Book Description
This study presents a theoretical model that links chief executive officer (CEO) overconfidence to the value loss of corporate diversification. Consistent with the model's prediction, the findings show that diversified firms run by overconfident CEOs experience value loss compared to diversified firms run by their rational counterparts. Empirically, the value loss is economically significant and ranges between 12.5% and 14.1%. In addition, the model predicts heightened corporate refocusing activity by overconfident CEOs who pursued diversified investments in the past once realized returns fail to match initial expectations. The empirical odds of corporate refocusing decisions are 67% to 98% higher when past diversifications are undertaken by overconfident rather than rational CEOs. Another prediction of the model is that overconfident CEOs exhibit preference for diversified investments, especially in the presence of ample internal funds. This prediction is also strongly supported by the data. Overall, this study proposes CEO overconfidence as a unified and consistent explanation of why firms pursue value-destructive corporate diversification policies and later adopt refocusing policies aiming to restore value.

Causes and Effects of Corporate Refocusing Programs

Causes and Effects of Corporate Refocusing Programs PDF Author: Philip G. Berger
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 46

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Book Description
We study the precursors and outcomes of refocusing episodes by diversified firms that were not taken over. Those that refocus have more value-reducing diversification policies than those not refocusing. Major disciplinary or incentive-altering events (including management turnover, outside shareholder pressure, changes in management compensation, and financial distress) usually must occur, however, before managers refocus. Consistent with divestitures reversing, at least in part, value destruction from unsuccessful diversification strategies, the cumulative abnormal returns over a firm's refocusing-related announcements average 7.3%, and are significantly related to the amount of value-reduction associated with the refocuser's diversification policy.

Corporate Diversification and Firm Value

Corporate Diversification and Firm Value PDF Author: Stefan Erdorf
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
We survey the recent literature on corporate diversification. How does corporate diversification influence firm value? Does it create or destroy value? Until the beginning of this century, the predominant thinking among researchers and practitioners was that corporate diversification leads to an average discount on firm value; however, several studies cast doubt on the diversification discount. In the last decade, there has been no clear consensus as to whether there is a discount or even a premium on firm value. Recent literature concludes that the effect on value differs from firm to firm and that corporate diversification alone does not drive the discount or premium; rather, the effect is heterogeneous across certain industry settings, economic conditions, and governance structures.

Corporate Diversification and Firm Value During Economic Downturns

Corporate Diversification and Firm Value During Economic Downturns PDF Author: Nikanor Volkov
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
This paper examines the effect of corporate diversification on firm value during periods of economic downturns. Analysis of diversified firms' valuation during recessionary periods reveals a significant increase in relative value of diversified firms. The observed improvement in the relative valuation is only a temporary phenomenon, which disappears in the four quarters following the trough of the recession. We do not find support to the hypothesis that the improvement in relative valuation of diversified firms during economic downturns is attributed to the ability of diversified firms to utilize broader external capital markets. We demonstrate that the improvement in relative valuation is largely driven by diversified firms that are financially constrained, and, therefore, attribute the observed improvement to more efficient internal capital allocation during recessions.