Abstract
This study examines the financial characteristics of 52 targets and 47 acquirers that were involved in acquisitions in the Asian commercial banking sector over the period 1998 to 2004 and a control sample of non-merged banks matched by country and year. Three logistic regression models are estimated to determine the factors that influence the probability of being involved in an acquisition either as a target or as an acquirer. The results indicate that more asset risky portfolios increase this probability. Higher liquidity also increases the probability of being acquired. The probability of being involved in an acquisition as acquirer also increases with size and cost efficiency. Finally, more profitable banks are more likely to be involved in acquisitions as acquirers rather than as targets. When we partition our sample in two sub-periods we find that only the higher loan loss provisions of targets and the higher size of acquirers remain robust over time.