Historical ties between nations: How do they matter in cross-border mergers and acquisitions?

This article addresses how historical ties between home and host countries contribute to the total number of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs). The empirical findings exhibit that historical ties between two nations do not have any direct impact on the resource-seeking motive of CBMAs. However, a country-level historical relationship lessens a host government's hurdles in obtaining strategic resources by foreign acquirers and thus increases the total number of CBMAs. This inference, however, depends on the nature of the historical relationship (friendly versus hostile) between home and host countries.