The Effect of Trust on Acquisition Success: The Case of Israeli Start-Up M&A

Abstract

Given the frequent failure of many M&A deals, the question of their sustainability is a critical one. Still, in existing literature, there is a visible emphasis on the perspective of the acquiring firm and its characteristics in affecting M&A performance. Moreover, the role of trust, both from the acquiring and acquired firms, has not received extensive attention to date. The present paper builds on a quantitative and qualitative study of Israeli high-tech start-ups acquired by international firms to explore the effects of trust on M&A success. Our study indicates that trust from acquired firm managers positively affects acquisition success, although trust from the acquiring firm (expressed with the autonomy that it leaves to the acquired firm) is not a significant predictor of acquisition success.