Value Creation in the Publishing Industry: The Impact of Acquiring IT Services Firms Between 2002 and 2007

With the presence of online, digital content and new services for manipulating and searching it, printing and publishing firms may experience technological uncertainty and risk and diminishing profitability. Mergers and acquisitions are approaches for dealing with the current technology and market changes that are underway in the printing and publishing industry. Using an event study methodology and a sample of 60 U.S. printing and publishing firms, this study investigates the value creation of acquiring information technology (IT) services firms. The study's findings reveal that printing and publishing firms experience significant increases in their market values as a result of acquiring IT services firms. In fact, non-newspaper firms realize the largest increases in market value. The study's findings should help academicians and practitioners understand the kinds of strategic acquisitions from which printing and publishing firms are most likely to benefit. ACCESS TO FULL TEXT