Loss compensation in Metamaterials through embedding of active transistor based negative differential resistance circuits

This paper presents an all-electronic approach for loss compensation in metamaterials. This is achieved by embedding active-transistors based negative differential resistance (NDR) circuits in each unit cell of the metamaterial lattice. NDR circuits provide tunable loss compensation over a broad frequency range limited only by the maximum operating frequency of transistors that is reaching terahertz values in newer semiconductor processes. Design, simulation and experimental results of metamaterials composed of split ring resonators (SRR) with and without loss compensation circuits are presented

Overcoming I/O bottleneck in superconducting quantum computing: multiplexed qubit control with ultra-low-power, base-temperature cryo-CMOS multiplexer

Large-scale superconducting quantum computing systems entail high-fidelity control and readout of large numbers of qubits at millikelvin temperatures, resulting in a massive input-output bottleneck. Cryo-electronics, based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, may offer a scalable and versatile solution to overcome this bottleneck. However, detrimental effects due to cross-coupling between the electronic and thermal noise generated during cryo-electronics operation and the qubits need to be avoided. Here we present an ultra-low power radio-frequency (RF) multiplexing cryo-electronics solution operating below 15 mK that allows for control and interfacing of superconducting qubits with minimal cross-coupling. We benchmark its performance by interfacing it with a superconducting qubit and observe that the qubit's relaxation times ($T_1$) are unaffected, while the coherence times ($T_2$) are only minimally affected in both static and dynamic operation. Using the multiplexer, single qubit gate fidelities above 99.9%, i.e., well above the threshold for surface-code based quantum error-correction, can be achieved with appropriate thermal filtering. In addition, we demonstrate the capability of time-division-multiplexed qubit control by dynamically windowing calibrated qubit control pulses. Our results show that cryo-CMOS multiplexers could be used to significantly reduce the wiring resources for large-scale qubit device characterization, large-scale quantum processor control and quantum error correction protocols.Comment: 16+6 pages, 4+1+5 figures, 1 tabl

Foreign vs domestic ownership on debt reduction: an investigation of acquisition targets in Italy and Spain

This paper examines the role of foreign versus domestic ownership in reducing the debt levels of acquired firms in Italy and Spain over the period 2002–2010. Acknowledging that lower debt levels can mitigate the risk of failure and thus enhance the chances for a positive post-acquisition performance and survival, we particularly examine the causal effect of foreign and domestic acquisitions on two firm-level debt measures: gearing and short-term leverage. To estimate causal relationships, we control for selection bias by applying propensity score matching techniques. Our results indicate that foreign acquisition leads to a significant and steady reduction in the debt ratios of the target companies. In contrast, the relationship between domestic acquisition and debt reduction appears to be smaller and statistically less robust

The safety and soundness effects of Bank M&;A in the EU:Does prudential regulation have any impact?

This paper studies the impact of European bank mergers on changes in key safety and soundness measures of both acquirers and targets. We find that acquirers in cross‐border deals tend to perform better when their home country prudential supervisors and deposit insurance funding systems are stricter than that of the target. For target banks, we find that stronger supervision and tougher deposit insurance funding regimes result in positive post merger changes in liquidity and performance. Overall, while bank mergers have undermined bank safety and soundness in some cases, our evidence indicates that strong regulation and supervision can partly ameliorate this

Family Business Restructuring:A Review and Research Agenda

Although business restructuring occurs frequently and it is important for the prosperity of family firms across generations, research on family firms has largely evolved separately from research on business restructuring. This is a missed opportunity, since the two domains are complementary, and understanding the context, process, content, and outcome dimensions is relevant to both research streams. We address this by examining the intersection between research on business restructuring and family firms to improve our knowledge of each area and inform future research. To achieve this goal, we review and organize research across different dimensions to create an integrative framework. Building on current research, we focus on 88 studies at the intersection of family firm and business restructuring research to develop a model that identifies research needs and suggests directions for future research

How to implement a deal? The impact of CEO characteristics on synergy realization of European takeovers

This paper explores whether CEO characteristics affect synergy realization for a sample of 231 intra-European takeovers of listed firms (1997–2007). We show that CEO incentive alignment and CEO skills indeed matter. The post-takeover performance improvement of the combined firm (EBITDA) is significantly larger if the CEO has an equity stake in the combined firm. This relation holds particularly for firms where the ownership structure is more dispersed. Longer tenured CEOs realize lower synergy value, consistent with the view that long-tenured CEOs may use their power in the acquiring firm to entrench themselves, while short-tenured CEOs have stronger career-based incentives to capture synergy value during the post-takeover period. We find no incremental impact of the CEO’s educational background on synergy realization, but we do find that CEOs with prior business experience in the target industry generate a larger post-takeover performance improvement of the combined firm.status: publishe

Failing M&As: are deals intrinsically bad or just poorly implemented?

This doctoral dissertation deals with value creation of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Europe during recent years (1997 2007). Furthermore, the impact of potential drivers of M&A value creation is examined. To date, both M&A literature and business consulting studies have suggested that a large fraction of M&As up to more than 50% cannot yield the synergy value expected by the acquiring management at the announcement of the deal. Surprisingly, to the best of our knowledge, a comprehensive study about the actual reasons for these failure rates has not yet been set up. This doctoral dissertation looks into three main research questions. The first chapter assesses to what extent European M&As between 1997 and 2006 have created value for the shareholders of the participant companies. To this end, three complementary measures for long-term M&A value creation are constructed: abnormal stock performance and abnormal operating performance up to the end of the fifth year after the takeover, and the divestment of a majority stake in target equity subsequent to the takeover. We report that between 30% and 50% of these takeovers do not enhance firm value by the end of the fifth post-takeover year, while for less than 10% of the deals a majority stake in target equity is sold. When the takeover target is a listed company, we further find that stock market investors can anticipate at the first public announcement of the deal whether ultimately the takeover enhances firm value. Such an association is not found when the target is an unlisted company, which indicates that more severe information asymmetries vis-à-vis unlisted firms may hamper stock market investors in their initial M&A value assessments. The second chapter addresses the question whether European acquirers have initiated takeovers for reasons other than firm value maximization, such as managerial incentive problems, market-timing behavior, or deal completion concerns by financial advisors assisting the acquiring firm. To this end, we explore the impact of these alternative deal motivations on both total M&A gains and on the division of total gains between acquirer and target shareholders. We find a negative impact of the pre-deal acquirer stock performance on both total M&A gains and on the part of total gains that accrue to acquiring shareholders. Furthermore, this negative association is mitigated by a concentrated acquirer ownership structure. These findings are consistent with the idea that managerial overconfidence underlies European takeovers in recent years. In addition, our results show that horizontal deals in the peak of industry-level M&A clusters are associated with lower total gains, especially in more competitive industries. Finally, the third chapter of this dissertation focuses on the effective capturing of synergy value during the post-takeover period. More precisely, we explore the impact of various CEO characteristics on the realization of synergy value. Our results show that the combined firm realizes more synergy value when the CEO has an ownership stake in the firm and when the CEO has previous experience in the target business. Less synergy value is realized when the CEO has longer tenure in the acquiring firm. We find no incremental impact of the CEO s educational background on the realization of synergy value during the post-takeover period. Overall, this dissertation provides interesting insights in the process of value creation by European takeovers during recent years. Furthermore, this doctoral study highlights the impact of management characteristics on M&A value creation in Europe.CONTENTS DOCTORAL COMMITTEE iii WOORD VAN DANK / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v CONFERENCES AND PUBLICATIONS viii CONTENTS x LIST OF FIGURES xii LIST OF TABLES xiii GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 CAN STOCK MARKETS PREDICT M&A FAILURE? A STUDY OF EUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS IN THE FIFTH TAKEOVER WAVE 5 1.1. Introduction 5 1.2. Literature Review 9 1.3. Sample Selection and Methodology 13 1.3.1. Sample selection 13 1.3.2. Sample composition 15 1.3.3. Event study methodology 19 1.3.4. M&A failure proxies 24 1.4. Empirical Results 31 1.4.1. Failure statistics 31 1.4.2. Multivariate models: set-up 33 1.4.3. Multivariate results in Sample A (Public) 34 1.4.4. Multivariate results in Sample B (Private) 41 1.5. Conclusions 46 References 48 CHAPTER 2 DO ACQUIRERS MAKE INTRINSICALLY BAD DEALS? A STUDY OF EUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS IN THE RECENT TAKEOVER WAVE 51 2.1. Introduction 51 2.2. Literature and Hypotheses: The Impact of Non Value-Maximizing Motivations on Takeover Value 58 2.2.1. Managerial incentive problems 58 2.2.2. Market-timing theory 66 2.2.3. Deal-completion concerns by financial advisors assisting the acquiring firm 68 2.3. Sample Selection and Methodology 70 2.3.1. Sample selection 70 2.3.2. Total M&A gains 72 2.3.3. Division of M&A gains 74 2.3.4. Multivariate regression models 75 2.3.5. Descriptive statistics 79 2.4. Empirical Results 82 2.4.1. Regression models on total M&A gains 82 2.4.2. Regression models on division of M&A gains 92 2.4.3. Regression models on total M&A gains in the [-1, +1] event window 98 2.4.4. Additional tests on the association between stock market overvaluation and the role of financial advisors assisting the acquiring firm and M&A synergies 99 2.5. Conclusions 100 References 106 CHAPTER 3 HOW TO IMPLEMENT A DEAL? THE IMPACT OF CEO CHARACTERISTICS ON SYNERGY REALIZATION OF EUROPEAN TAKEOVERS 111 3.1. Introduction 111 3.2. Literature and Hypotheses: Why CEO Characteristics Matter for the Realization of Synergy Value 118 3.2.1. CEO incentive alignment and synergy realization 118 2.2.2. CEO skills and synergy value 122 3.3. Sample Selection and Methodology 125 3.3.1. Sample selection 125 3.3.2. Construction of CEO dataset 127 3.3.3. Synergy realization: abnormal changes in EBITDA, sales and operating costs of the combined firm during the post-takeover period 132 3.3.4. Regression models 137 3.4. Empirical Results 140 3.4.1. The impact of CEO characteristics on the abnormal change in EBITDA 140 3.4.2. The impact of CEO characteristics on sales-based synergies and cost-based synergies 149 3.4.3. The impact of cultural distance between the acquirer and the target 156 3.4.4. How to distinguish between the type of M&A and deal implementation 157 3.5. Conclusions 159 References 160 Appendix 3.1 164 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 165nrpages: 168status: publishe