Growing Lemons and Cherries? Pre- and Post-Acquisition Performance of Foreign-Acquired Firms in New EU-Member States

Foreign acquisitions are an increasingly important mode of FDI in the new EU member states (NMS). Using firm-level data and a common estimation framework for seven NMS we study pre-and post- acquisition performance of acquired firms. We find that selection criteria of target firms differ significantly across countries. In some countries the evidence supports the idea of “cherry picking” with better firms being chosen as targets for acquisition,...