Re-organising the logistics resources of companies after mergers and acquisitions

This paper discusses the relation between logistics and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) of companies within the same industry and same industry level (i.e. horizontal M&A). The purpose is to study the effects of M&A on the logistics resources of companies and the possibility for companies to benefit from the re-organising of these resources in the form of synergies. The study hopes to add to existing knowledge by examining the logistics aspects of M&A situations, which has remained a fairly unexplored field in M&A research. The paper reports on the results of a multiple case study covering eight horizontal M&A deals performed by Finnish companies during 1997-2002 in manufacturing industries. The study provides empirical evidence on the importance of logistics aspects as direct or indirect M&A objectives, and as a potential source for value creation in M&A. The gathered empirical data is fairly narrow, however the reported results provide a good basis for continuing the construction of tentative theory in this research area.