Mergers and Acquisitions of ESG Firms: Towards a New Financial Infrastructure?

Abstract

Working Paper constructing and examining a dataset on the mergers and acquistion activities of ESG firms. This is linked to to the concept of infrastructures in finance.

Dataset on environmental, social and governance information firms and their merger and acquisitions activities

“…To execute the network analysis of the M&A relations of the firms, I, however, include companies that acquire ESG information firms in the definition of “ESG information firm”. This definitional choice replicates the approach developed in a conference paper that presented an earlier version of the M&A data [18] .…”

Problems of ESG that Prevent Its Integration in Investment Decision-Making: Evidence from Investors

“…They are mostly created by large enterprises, as tools for self-beneficial purposes. This, according to Dimmelmeier, was followed by a quick concentration of the ESG industry into a small number of large companies [7]. These larger players in the market then utilized ESG as a tool to increase their market share, making it difficult for smaller firms to enter the market and compete.…”

Mind the ESG capital allocation gap: The role of index providers, standard‐setting, and “green” indices for the creation of sustainability impact

“…But while the PRI created a broad framework for sustainable investing, it did not provide specific definitions or standards for ESG. In the absence of such public regulation, this period saw the dynamic development of various ESG ratings, data, and indices as tools of private self‐governance for this growing area of finance and their consolidation into a few big firms that provide these tools (Dimmelmeier, 2020; Escrig‐Olmedo et al, 2019). In this new period of sustainable investing, the primary purpose was not to avoid unethical firms, but mainly to manage financial risks related to ESG factors (Eccles et al, 2020).…”