Earnouts as Payment Currency and Value Gains to Bidder Shareholders

The study investigates the cumulative abnormal return (CAR) for Swedish and German bidders, focusing on the influence of payment methods, specifically cash, stock, and the emerging earnout structure. Analyzing a sample of 927 transactions, which includes 346 bids from German acquirers and 581 from Swedish ones, it also examines 24 German and 49 Swedish earnout deals. The research spans transactions from January 1, 1986, to December 31, 2012, involving domestic and foreign targets across various listing statuses.