The Euro and the changing face of European banking: evidence from mergers and acquisitions

During the last fifteen years, the European banking industry has experienced considerable consolidation through mergers and acquisitions against the background of the introduction of the single currency and reductions in cross-border barriers. This paper investigates whether these changes impacted on announcement period gains of the banks acquiring targets by examining the pre-euro, run-up to the euro and post euro eras. Evidence suggests bidders' gains have fallen with the development of economic and monetary union. It also reveals significant differences in the gains from acquisitions within and outside the eurozone. These results are consistent with increased competition among bidders and increased integration of the market in the eurozone area in the post-euro era. However, differing results relating to focused and diversifying bids suggest that the level of market integration is sector dependent.