The strategic rationale of mergers and acquisitions on emerging markets : evidence from Romania

External growth operations, such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As), alliances, consortia, are often seen by the companies as a way of expending their businesses or as a way of survival. In this chapter, we identify the determinants of the acquirers for choosing one type of merger in the detriment of others, considering a classification that suits better for the Romanian merger market (horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate). The independent variables indebtedness, premium, and the motives of operational synergies, managerial optimization, and increasing the market share, were useful predictors for choosing between the three types of mergers. The proposed research hypotheses are to be tested on a sample of 718 mergers that took place on the Romanian market, in the 2014-2016 period of time. The main results will show us that the indebtedness, and the fact that the acquiring companies paid a premium have the most significant influence on the type of merger chosen by the acquirer, given the fact that, in our sample, many acquirers register a negative book value of equity. Despite the fact that, on the Romanian market, many of the companies decide not to record a premium, its influence is significant for all types of mergers.