BIOTECHNOLOGICAL MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: AN OVERVIEW

Purpose - The aim of the paper is to analyze the phenomenon of Mergers and Acquisition in high-tech sectors with a special focus on biotechnological firms. In recent years there was an impressive wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), but this operations have produced mixed results for their stakeholders. In fact despite their popularity, M&As produce mixed results for stakeholders Fowler and Schmidt, 1988; Lubatkin and O'Neil, 1987; King et al., 2004), and there has been no systemic vision. Design/methodology/approach - The paper can be classified like a descriptive paper. After a literature review on M&AS processes on high-tech sectors, the paper analyzes the dynamics, the results and the specificities of red biotechnological Mergers and Acquisitions. Findings - In the biotech sector, over the last few years - during difficult economic times - it was difficult to attract investor capital. In this context, it's possible to identify a specific trend: traditional pharma companies with sufficient cash from their existing sales, but facing a dried-out product and patent pipeline have acquired innovative, but cash-poor biotech firms. Research limitations/implications - The limitations of the paper consequent to its very nature: a secondary data-based research and a largely conceptual one, requiring further empirical testing and develoment.