Working Papers

1- The ESG Elephant in Goodwill: International Evidence from M&A Transactions 

This working paper asks whether a target firm’s ESG performance is priced into goodwill in M&A transactions. Building on the resource-based view, it argues that many ESG-related capabilities (e.g., stakeholder trust, ethical culture, workforce engagement) are embedded and non-separable, and therefore are likely to be captured in residual goodwill under IFRS 3 rather than recognized as identifiable intangibles. Using 892 completed international deals (2003–2024) merged from LSEG deal data, Refinitiv ESG scores (t−1), and purchase price allocation disclosures, the paper tests whether target ESG is associated with a higher goodwill ratio, and examines how acquirer ESG and ESG distance shape this relationship. The findings aim to clarify how sustainability value enters post-acquisition financial reporting and what this implies for goodwill inflation and impairment sensitivity.

2- Climate Synergies in M&A Announcements

This study examines climate-synergy disclosures in M&A announcements and asks why acquirers communicate expected climate-related benefits, whether investors value these disclosures, and whether the announced benefits are reflected in subsequent operating performance. Using a sample of 2,945 acquisitions by U.S. public acquirers, I identify both the presence and intensity of climate-synergy disclosure from deal press releases using ClimateBERT and GPT-4o. I then examine whether acquirer carbon intensity predicts disclosure behavior, whether climate-synergy disclosure is associated with announcement-period returns, and whether it is related to post-merger operating performance. Preliminary results suggest that higher-emission acquirers are more likely to disclose climate synergies, while disclosure intensity is positively associated with announcement returns but negatively associated with subsequent operating performance, highlighting a potential gap between market valuation and ex-post realization.