A Pathway Study on How Green Mergers and Acquisitions Drive Corporate Green Transformation: Evidence from the Cement Industry

In recent years, green mergers and acquisitions (green M&As) have gained widespread attention as a critical strategic approach for enterprises to acquire green resources and achieve capability upgrades. As a typical high carbon-emission industry, the cement sector plays a particularly crucial role in advancing green transformation. This paper constructs a three-dimensional path model illustrating how green M&As drive corporate green transformation, encompassing three paths: resource integration, management synergy, and performance improvement. The model reveals the internal mechanisms linking green capability acquisition, organizational integration, capability transformation, and value realization. The results show that green M&As can significantly enhance firms' environmental performance and green innovation by introducing green assets and technological resources, promoting synergy in governance structures and corporate culture, and unlocking integration benefits. Furthermore, this study offers targeted recommendations from three perspectives: optimizing resource allocation, building institutional coordination, and securing performance transformation. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms of green M&As and provides theoretical support and practical insights for the green upgrading of heavily polluting industries.