The U.S. food industry experienced a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) during the second half of the last decade. Increasingly, marketing-related objectives have been suspected to cause these M&As.

Denise Dahlhoff investigates the motives underlying the M&A activity in the U.S. food industry in the second half of the last decade. The focus is on marketing-related motives, especially brands, as a driver of M&As. Utilizing the shareholder value framework, the author explains the surge of M&As in the U.S. food industry in recent years; she explores the specific motives of significant M&As in the food industry, linking these motives to shareholder value drivers; she develops a quantitative measurement tool for depicting firms' M&A rationale and applies it in a pilot study. Including both marketing and financial perspectives, Denise Dahlhoff demonstrates how marketing-oriented M&As can generate growth and, ultimately, shareholder value. The findings of this analysis can be applied to similarly structured industries, in particular consumer goods.

Dr. Denise Dahlhoff promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Henrik Sattler am Lehrstuhl für Marketing und Handel der Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena. Sie ist derzeit Dozentin an der Johnson School of Management der Cornell University (Ithaca/New York).