Purpose

This study aims to examine in depth the impact of merger activities on banks in Saudi Arabia.

Design/methodology/approach

Event study, financial ratio and efficient frontier analyses with a mixture of parametric and non-parametric tests are used for the sample period 2016Q1–2022Q4.

Findings

Event study analysis shows that merging banks (bidders) have higher positive cumulative abnormal returns than merged banks (targets), indicating that investors believe that bidding banks will benefit the most from the merger strategy. It was also found that the efficiency measures of the combined banks of Saudi British Bank and Alawwal Bank deteriorated, while they improved for the combined banks of National Commercial Bank and Saudi American Bank in the post-merger period, confirming investors' views.

Research limitations/implications

Although the study focuses on the Saudi banking sector, its findings could be generalized to other banks in the region, as the Saudi banking sector is one of the largest in the Middle East region and is expected to grow further in the future.

Practical implications

The mere act of merging two banks does not guarantee the realization of cost synergies or efficiency gains. This research shows that mergers are not automatically cost-effective and that their success depends on good integration and restructuring strategies.

Originality/value

To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive analysis of the short- and long-term impacts of merger activities in the Saudi banking sector.

中文翻译：

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银行业合并活动的短期和长期影响：来自新兴市场的证据

目的

本研究旨在深入研究合并活动对沙特阿拉伯银行的影响。

设计/方法论/途径

事件研究、财务比率和有效前沿分析结合参数和非参数测试用于 2016 年第一季度至 2022 年第四季度的样本期。

发现

事件研究分析表明，并购银行（竞购方）的累计超额正收益高于被并购银行（目标），表明投资者认为竞购银行将从并购策略中获益最多。研究还发现，沙特英国银行和阿拉瓦尔银行合并后银行的效率指标恶化，而国家商业银行和沙特美国银行合并后银行的效率指标则有所改善，证实了投资者的观点。

研究局限性/影响

尽管该研究重点关注沙特银行业，但其研究结果可以推广到该地区的其他银行，因为沙特银行业是中东地区最大的银行业之一，预计未来将进一步增长。

实际影响

合并两家银行的行为并不能保证实现成本协同效应或效率增益。这项研究表明，合并并不自动具有成本效益，其成功取决于良好的整合和重组策略。

原创性/价值

据作者所知，这是第一项对沙特银行业合并活动的短期和长期影响进行全面分析的研究。