M&A deals create more value for acquiring firm shareholders post-2009 than ever before. Public acquisitions fuel positive and statistically significant abnormal returns for acquirers while stock-for-stock deals no longer destroy value. Mega deals, priced at least $500 mil, typically associated with more pronounced agency problems, investor scrutiny and media attention, seem to be driving the documented upturn. Acquiring shareholders now gain $62 mil around the announcement of such deals; a $325 mil gain improvement compared to 1990-2009. The corresponding synergistic gains have also catapulted to more than $542 mil pointing to overall value creation from M&As on a large scale. Our results are robust to different measures and controls and appear to be linked with profound improvements in the quality of corporate governance among acquiring firms in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

M&A deals create more value for acquiring firm shareholders post-2009 than ever before. Public acquisitions fuel positive and statistically significant abnormal returns for acquirers while stock-for-stock deals no longer destroy value. Mega deals, priced at least $500 mil, typically associated with more pronounced agency problems, investor scrutiny and media attention, seem to be driving the documented upturn. Acquiring shareholders now gain $62 mil around the announcement of such deals; a $325 mil gain improvement compared to 1990-2009. The corresponding synergistic gains have also catapulted to more than $542 mil pointing to overall value creation from M&As on a large scale. Our results are robust to different measures and controls and appear to be linked with profound improvements in the quality of corporate governance among acquiring firms in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

High capital intensity and reliance on debt financing are among the most prominent characteristics of the shipping industry. The corporate finance literature has documented that beyond a certain threshold, leverage can hamper a firm's ability to raise capital, and as a result, have a bearing on its corporate investment policy. The new, more restrictive, financing landscape in the shipping sector has put the management of capital structure on the spotlight as a key driver of investment policy, financial health, and thus, firm success. In this paper, we examine for the first time the link between the financing policy of shipping companies and their corporate investment decisions. We focus on the impact of deviations from target capital structure on mergers and acquisitions (M&A); an increasingly important corporate growth vehicle for shipping companies, with directly measurable outcomes. Deviations from optimal leverage display a strong association with the likelihood to consummate acquisitions, deal size, the financing method as well as the M&A outcome. Higher debt levels are shown to have a negative effect on acquisitiveness and a positive effect on the quality of corporate investment; a pattern with direct policy implications for shipping companies, their management teams, and shareholders.

We study whether the meteoric rise of boutique advisors in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) is justified by their buy‐side performance. We find that acquiring firms represented by boutique advisors generate superior short‐ and long‐run abnormal returns over those employing full‐service advisors. This effect is mainly prominent in private deals, interindustry mergers, and deals involving inexperienced acquirers, where valuation uncertainty tends to be higher. Overall, our results reflect that acquirer shareholders benefit from boutique investment banks' high level of industry expertise and independent advice, supporting the rising demand for their financial advisory services.