Data-Driven Decisions in Mergers & Acquisitions. Can patent information provide value for acquirers?
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Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Entrepreneurship and business design (MPBDP), MSc
Publicerad
2019
Författare
Olsson, Emma
Söderström, Annie
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Rapid technology development, consolidation of industries, increased competition and
changing customer needs, create new challenges for today's organisations. Faced with
new requirements these organisations rapidly need to access and obtain new
capabilities, and many organisations are therefore increasingly turning to mergers or
acquisitions, obtaining external assets and competencies. Yet, studies show that failure
rates of merger and acquisition activities are tremendous, ranging between 70-90%.
Research suggests that patent information has many applications and can assist an
organisation in multiple ways. Hence, the purpose of this study was to further
understand if patent information can be valuable in merger and acquisition processes.
The study consisted of a literature review regarding mergers and acquisitions, patents
and patent-based decision making, analysing the viability of patent data as a source for
information. Furthermore, to obtain a deeper understanding of the practical feasibility,
interviews were performed with individuals having IP, legal, technological, business
and/or financial knowledge. In addition, a survey was constructed combining
information discovered by literature and interviews, further validating the results. Finally,
an analysis was conducted on gathered information to elaborate on the complexity of
the usage of patent information in mergers and acquisitions.
The main findings of this study were that diverse types of patent analysis seem to be
needed in different stages of a merger or acquisition, creating a requirement to view
patents from various perspectives, such as a risk, support or a strategic resource. The
results of this study furthermore indicate that patent information today mostly is used in
the latter part of the process. However, depending on the motives and the situation, it
should also be beneficial to perform patent analysis in the early stages of a merger or
acquisition. Nevertheless, the choice of using patent information should be based on
knowledge and awareness, and if applied, results indicate that patent information can be
valuable.
Additionally, the study found that the usage of patent information in merger and
acquisition activities may be impacted by other aspects such as culture, strategies,
communication and the understanding of intellectual property. Something organisations
may want to consider if they wish to realise the full value patents could hold for mergers
and acquisitions.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
patent intelligence , patent analytics , patent information , mergers , acquisitions