The Role and Impact of Merger & Acquisition of Banking Sector in Pakistan

The paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments in the scientific discussion on determining the effects of mergers and acquisitions for banking institutions. The purpose of this article is to conduct an empirical study to identify the nature of the impact of mergers and acquisitions on Pakistan's financial sector performance. The research in the article is carried out in the following logical sequence: a thorough literature review on the analysis of key aspects of mergers and acquisitions and their impact on the financial and economic performance of banks before and after their practical implementation; the historical basis of the experience of mergers and acquisitions caused by various economic factors, such as: GDP growth, interest rates on loans, monetary policy; financial analysis of bank profitability, solvency and liquidity indicators before and after the merger and acquisition was conducted. Five commercial banks of Pakistan that were involved in the merger and acquisition processes were selected as the subject of study. The study period is presented before and after the merger and includes two years before the acquisition report and two years after the acquisition announcement by analysis of financial ratios of liquidity, solvency and profitability. The results of empirical and theoretical research have shown that there is a positive relationship between merger and acquisition processes and liquidity ratios of banking institutions; and – the negative impact of such processes on banks' profitability and solvency in the short term. The author states that the main limitation of the study is the unavailability of financial data until 2006 and the use of a small sample size and a low likelihood of data collection technique, which is limited by a certain type of people and lack of generalization.