Leveraging Social Networks for Mergers and Acquisitions Forecasting

Mergers and acquisitions are pivotal strategies employed by companies to maintain competitiveness, leading to enhanced production efficiency, scale, and market dominance. Due to their significant financial implications, predicting these operations has become a profitable area of study for both scholars and industry professionals. The accurate forecasting of mergers and acquisitions activities is a complex task, demanding advanced statistical tools and generating substantial returns for stakeholders and investors. Existing research in this field has proposed various methods encompassing econometric models, machine learning algorithms, and sentiment analysis. However, the effectiveness and accuracy of these approaches vary considerably, posing challenges for the development of robust and scalable models. In this paper, we present a novel approach to forecast mergers and acquisitions activities by utilizing social network analysis. By examining temporal changes in social network graphs of the involved entities, potential transactions can be identified prior to public announcements, granting a significant advantage in the forecasting process. To validate our approach, we conduct a case study on three recent acquisitions made by Microsoft, leveraging the social network platform Twitter. Our methodology involves distinguishing employees from random users and subsequently analyzing the evolution of mutual connections over time. The results demonstrate a strong link between engaged firms, with the connections between Microsoft employees and acquired companies ranging from five to twenty times higher than those of baseline companies in the two years preceding the official announcement. These findings underscore the potential of social network analysis in accurately forecasting mergers and acquisitions activities and open avenues for the development of innovative methodologies.