This study explores the effect of asset specificity on a target firm's value in a merger. Using US merger data, I show that, when their industry experiences a negative cash flow shock, target firms that consist of more industry-specific real assets receive a lower merger premium than do those...

We examine how search frictions affect merger outcomes. Exploiting firm connections in common bank networks (CBNs) as a channel for reducing search costs, we show that like-buys-like mergers are more probable between firms connected through a CBN. This effect is amplified if the connection has...