Does fairness matter in corporate takeovers
In interviews with the two head negotiators for a buying and a selling company in a Swedish takeover, a fair price was found to play an important role. A stated reason was that the companies wanted to do business in the future. To further test the importance of fairness, 88 graduate students of business administration playing the role of buyers were asked to evaluate selling prices in fictitious corporate takeovers. The results showed that both satisfaction with the offered selling prices and willingness to buy were affected by information about a fair price. Furthermore, the possibility of doing business in the future appeared to have some importance for this effect.