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Wealth creation through market concentration in the Asia-Pacific banking sector

We analyze the financial sector consolidation in the Asia-Pacific region using a sample of 581 bank merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements. We find that Asian bidders and their rivals benefit from consolidation, particularly in case of larger bidders and national transactions. Tar-gets and their rivals likewise gain, with larger banks more likely targeted by Asian institutions. We also document significant increases in target countries' market concentration ratios following transactions. Contrary to most research focusing on the U.S. and Europe, we provide strong evidence that market power considerations are the dominant motivation behind bank M&As in the Asia-Pacific region.