Chair of

Mergers and Acquisitions

About us

The Chair of Mergers and Acquisitions focuses its research and teaching activities on the broad area of corporate finance with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, investment banking, and corporate valuation.

Professor Dr. Aktas holds the Chair of Mergers and Acquisitions at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management since September 2013. He is also the co-director of the executive education program devoted to Mergers and Acquisitions at WHU. He previously worked at Skema Business School (France), EMLYON Business School (France), and Louvain School of Management (Université catholique de Louvain). Being interested in empirical corporate finance in general, Professor Dr. Aktas is known for his research articles on Mergers and Acquisitions published in leading international journals including the Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Economic Journal, Journal of Corporate Finance, and Journal of Banking & Finance. His research has been featured on the programs of leading international conferences, and quoted in widely read international media, such as the Financial Times, The New York Times, and Sueddeutsche Zeitung. He was a visiting researcher at the Anderson School of Management (UCLA, Los Angeles) in 2001–2002. Professor Dr. Aktas is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Pulcra Chemicals.

Publications

Recent research publications –
by Professor Dr. Nihat Aktas.

Finance and Accounting Group
The role of internal M&A teams in takeovers
Aktas, N., Boone, A., Witkowski, A., Xu, G., Yurtoglu, B. (Pre-Print), Review of Finance

Finance and Accounting Group
Credit ratings and acquisitions
Aktas, N., Petmezas, D., Servaes, H., Karampatsas, N. (2021), Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 69, Article no. 101986, 21 pages

Finance and Accounting Group
Reductions in CEO career horizons and corporate policies
Aktas, N., Boone, A., Croci, E., Signori, A. (2021), Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 66, Article no. 101862, 21 pages

Finance and Accounting Group
CEO duality, agency costs, and internal capital allocation efficiency
Aktas, N., Andreou, P., Karasamani, I., Philip, D. (2019), British Journal of Management: BJM, Vol. 30 (2), pp. 473-493

Finance and Accounting Group
CEO overconfidence and the value of corporate cash holdings
Aktas, N., Louca, C., Petmezas, D. (2019), Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 54, pp. 85-106

Finance and Accounting Group
Stock market development and the financing role of IPOs in acquisitions
Aktas, N., Andries, K., Croci, E., Özdakak, A. (2019), Journal of Banking & Finance, Vol. 98, pp. 25-38

Finance and Accounting Group
She is mine: determinants and value effects of early announcements in takeovers
Aktas, N., Xu, G., Yurtoglu, B. (2018), Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 50, pp. 180-202

Finance and Accounting Group
CEO duality, agency costs, and internal capital allocations
Philip, D., Karasamani, I., Aktas, N., Panayiotis, A. (2016), Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

Finance and Accounting Group
CEO narcissism and the takeover process: from private initiation to deal completion
Aktas, N., De Bodt, E., Bollaert, H., Roll, R. (2016), Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis: JFQA, Vol. 51, pp. 113-137

Finance and Accounting Group
Corporate governance and takeover outcomes
Aktas, N., Croci, E., Simsir, S. (2016), Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 24, pp. 242-252

Finance and Accounting Group
Industry IPOs, growth opportunities, and private target acquisitions
Aktas, N., Cousin, J., Özdakak, A., Zhang, J. (2016), Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 37, pp. 193–209

Finance and Accounting Group
Value of control in family firms: evidence from mergers and acquisitions
Aktas, N., Centineo, S., Croci, E. (2016), Multinational Finance Journal: MFJ, Vol. 20, pp. 85-126