Financial Impact of Corporate Events on Corporate Stakeholders

In this volume, Sharon H. Garrison explores the impact of corporate events such as mergers, proxy fights, and lawsuits on the price of a company's stocks and, therefore, on the true owners of a corporation--the shareholders. Based upon her own research as well as that of others in the field, the author evaluates the probable effects of major internal and external corporate events and provides advice on the best investment and corporate strategies to be employed when such situations exist. She explains the basics of financial markets, describes complicated valuation concepts in clear and jargon-free language, shows how to measure the impact of information, and identifies valuable sources of financial information.

Following a general introduction which defines corporate events and how they affect shareholders, Garrison examines the concepts of markets, value, risk, and return. She demonstrates how to measure the impact of corporate events on a firm's stock price, and assesses the various sources of information about an event. She then discusses in detail the types of corporate events that can have a profound impact on stock prices: proxy fights; dividends, stock splits, and repurchase programs; key executive death; dissolution; mergers and divestitures; and bankruptcy. Each chapter provides actual case examples as well as the applicable research data. Must reading for institutional and private investors, this book will also be of significant interest to corporate executives who may be faced with management responsibilities during a planned corporate event such as a stock repurchase program or an unplanned disaster like the Union Carbide incident in Bhopal or the Tylenol poisonings.

SHARON H. GARRISON is Associate Professor of Finance at East Tennessee State University and Editor of The Journal of Financial and Strategic Decisions. She is co-author of Financial Forecasting and Planning (Quorum, 1988).