Public and Private Merger Waves

We examine the participation of public and private …rms in merger waves and their outcomes. We document that public …rms participate more in mergers than private …rms and are more cyclical in their acquisition decisions. Public …rms are also impacted more by macro factors including credit spreads and industry returns. Acquired plants gain more in productivity on average and the improvement is greater for on-the-wave mergers. We show that our results are not just driven by the fact that public …rms have better access to capital. Using productivity from over …ve years prior to the transaction, we document that better …rms select to become public and participate more in productivity increasing mergers. Our results are consistent with the notion that better …rms become public in anticipation of accessing capital in the public markets when opportunities rise.