Corporate Divestitures around Mergers and Acquisitions: A Bibliometric Study

Even though studies have found that divestitures around Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are a common occurrence (13%-45% across studies), this topic hasn’t been studied enough. This bibliometric study reviews the research themes and publication pattern of papers on divestitures around M&A. An initial extract of 537 research papers listed on SCOPUS till 2023 on relevant keywords was identified of which 170 papers were shortlisted to identify research work which was contributing to the research area in a meaningful way. This study identifies top contributors to the area across authors, journals and countries. Several key research sub-themes emerged. While there are papers focusing on divestitures as an indicator of failure of prior M&A, a different group of papers have studied divestitures in more positive light such as it being a tool to improve performance. One of the most important themes is to identify reasons and estimate likelihood of divestiture of previously acquired units.