Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/27588 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
ZEW Discussion Papers No. 08-042 [rev.]
Publisher: 
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW), Mannheim
Abstract: 
Gaining access to technological assets and patents, in particular, has long been a major motive and objective for firm acquisitions. On the one hand, patents are used as a building instrument for the acquirer's technology portfolio. On the other hand, patents can be attractive because of their strategic value as a bargaining chip, e.g. in licensing negotiations. This is especially the case if patents have the potential to block competitors. Drawing on transaction cost economics and the resource-based view of the firm, we analyze the importance of these two faces of technology acquisition for the valuation of a target firm. Empirical evidence for European firm acquisitions in the period from 1996 to 2003 indicates that the price paid by an acquirer for a target increases with the building and blocking potential of the target's patents, especially if building and blocking patents are in technology fields related to the acquiring firm's patent portfolio. Our results have implications for the technology strategy of the firm, in that M&A transactions may considerably impact technology markets, increasing the concentration of key technologies.
Subjects: 
Firm acquisitions
technology
building patents
blocking patents
JEL: 
G34
L20
O34
older Version: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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