A Cross-cultural Comparative Study of German and Singaporean Employees’ Trust Decisions Following a Takeover: Implications for Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are an increasingly popular strategy for achieving corporate growth and diversification. The worldwide value of deals increased from US$462 billion to over US$3.5 trillion during the 1990s. Although the USA is the largest M&A market, Europe and Asia have outpaced it in terms of growth rates. Between 1990 and 1999, the number of M&As in the USA recorded a 10 per cent compound annual growth rate, while Europe and Asia-Pacific recorded a higher growth rate, of 13 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively (Sirower and Hasson, 2000). Cross-border M&As, in particular, are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to greenfield investments or strategic alliances as a vehicle for internationalization. The number of cross-border deals more than quadrupled between 1997 and 2000, with the number of transactions increasing from 2,100 to 9,200 (Levy, 2001). According to a KPMG survey, out of all M&As executed yearly, the percentage of cross-border M&As increased from 26 per cent in 1997 to 41 per cent in 2000 (Levy, 2001).