Borrowers' response to bank consolidation in India

We assess the response of publicly-traded borrower-firms to bank consolidation announcements in India using an event study methodology. The results of our paper suggest that borrower-firms, on average, respond positively to the news of bank consolidation; however, the response is heterogeneous. We investigate if this variation in response depends on the primary bank's characteristics and borrower-firms' characteristics. The paper finds that borrowers of merging banks with a high ratio of gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) react more positively to the consolidation announcement than borrower-firms of relatively low GNPAs banks. The paper also suggests that large borrower-firms, and business groups affiliated firms, respond more positively to the bank consolidation announcement. The results of cross-sectional regression analysis imply that borrower-firms' characteristics such as profitability, size, business group affiliation, firm's age, and primary bank's GNPAs are important determinants to the sensitivity of cumulative abnormal returns to bank consolidation news.