This study examines mergers and acquisitions and their economic impact on companies. The study examined which companies in Finland become the targets of acquisitions, how the economic activities of the target companies develop after the change of ownership and whether there is a difference between domestic and foreign acquisitions in these respects. The study was conducted using firm-level data that included nearly 2,000 acquisitions, supplemented by a qualitative review of 19 research interviews. The results of the study show that companies’ innovation activities have a positive relation to the likelihood of being acquired, especially by foreign buyers. However, foreign acquisitions did not have a significant impact on the development of the value added, productivity, profitability or employment of target companies when compared with the control group.
