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<p>Despite existing research emphasizing the strategic importance of digital technology acquisition in cross-sector M&amp;A, scholarly attention to how the magnitude of the technological gap affects post-merger financial outcomes remains limited. This study introduces resource activation to examine whether and how the digital technology innovation gap influences post-merger financial risk. Using a sample of 4,269 cross-sector M&amp;A transactions by Chinese A-share listed firms from 2013 to 2022, we find a U-shaped relationship between the technological gap and financial risk. Debt structure partially mediates this relationship, and absorptive capacity shifts the turning point leftward and flattens the curve. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that this U-shaped effect is most pronounced in digital application acquisitions, large-scale deals, and technology-intensive and labor-intensive targets. Our findings extend the resource-based view from static resource possession to dynamic resource activation and introduce debt structure as a novel transmission mechanism linking technological gaps to financial outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.</p>

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The impact of digital technology differences between cross-sector M&A on financial risks of post-merger

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月19日

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  • Qinglian Li,
  • Honghui Deng,
  • Hao Chen

摘要

Despite existing research emphasizing the strategic importance of digital technology acquisition in cross-sector M&A, scholarly attention to how the magnitude of the technological gap affects post-merger financial outcomes remains limited. This study introduces resource activation to examine whether and how the digital technology innovation gap influences post-merger financial risk. Using a sample of 4,269 cross-sector M&A transactions by Chinese A-share listed firms from 2013 to 2022, we find a U-shaped relationship between the technological gap and financial risk. Debt structure partially mediates this relationship, and absorptive capacity shifts the turning point leftward and flattens the curve. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that this U-shaped effect is most pronounced in digital application acquisitions, large-scale deals, and technology-intensive and labor-intensive targets. Our findings extend the resource-based view from static resource possession to dynamic resource activation and introduce debt structure as a novel transmission mechanism linking technological gaps to financial outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.