Riding the Wave : Timing Implications of Divestitures

Abstract

This study examines divestiture transactions within industry waves and reveals the impact of announcement timing on shareholder wealth. Our findings indicate a causal relationship between divestitures late within a wave and lower abnormal stock returns, relative to firms that divest earlier. This effect remains robust across different configurations, including a varying range of event windows, definitions of early and late movers, event study models, and transaction wave identification models. Strikingly, in contrast to much of the current transaction research, our study identified no discernible early mover advantage. These findings draw attention to the need for astute divestiture timing when implementing restructuring strategies through divestitures. We carefully address potential econometric and sampling issues to ensure the validity of our results and make a notable contribution by presenting a comprehensive framework that adapts the prevailing M&A models used to identify industry waves models to the distinct features of divestitures.