Has the Product Patent Regime Impacted Mergers and Acquisitions? Unveiling with a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are one of the most practised inorganic strategies to multiply economic profits, acquire new product capabilities, expand markets, diversify risk and bring synergistic gains. The purpose of the study is to review the literature related to companies’ financial analysis, pre and post-M&A after the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005. The study follows a systematic literature review (SLR) process where 128 research publications from 2005–2020 are examined after applying the required review protocols. SLR found a deficient practical contribution of the limited literature on the three perspectives, namely, from accounting, productivity and managerial perspectives at the international level. Furthermore, there is also a dearth of studies from the three perspectives for the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry (IPI) post the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005. This review finds that there is a need for a unified approach for evaluating the success of M&A in IPI. Future studies can encourage research that ties these three perspectives to a common thread and furnishes a holistic approach for analysis. It will further bolster the research to provide practical insights to companies’ rooting for a robust financial analysis.