The interaction of post-acquisition integration and acquisition focus in relation to long-run performance

We examine the joint influence of post-acquisition integration management and acquisition focus on long-run post-acquisition performance. We develop a financial measure related to integration that is based on changes in net purchases/disposals of physical assets. For a sample of acquisitions by Australian listed firms, we find that the main effects and the interaction of our integration measure and focus are related to performance in the direction suggested by theory. Our results suggest that inconsistencies in previous studies of the focus-performance relation are partly explained by the failure to consider the post-acquisition asset management strategies.