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Why Mergers Fail and How to Spot Trouble Early

Henrik Cronqvist & Désirée-Jessica Pély

MIT Sloan Management Review2026https://doi.org/10.63383/sgvj7835article
FT50AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Nearly half of all M&A deals are eventually undone, taking an average of 10 years to unwind. Research reveals that poor initial fit and unforeseen disruptions are the typical causes of failed corporate mergers, which ultimately destroy shareholder value, absorb leadership attention, and damage credibility. The Corporate Divorce Matrix can help leaders diagnose which path their deal is likely to follow and make smarter, more sound decisions at every stage of the M&A process.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.63383/sgvj7835

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@article{henrik2026,
  title        = {{Why Mergers Fail and How to Spot Trouble Early}},
  author       = {Henrik Cronqvist & Désirée-Jessica Pély},
  journal      = {MIT Sloan Management Review},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.63383/sgvj7835},
}

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Why Mergers Fail and How to Spot Trouble Early

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.