The purpose of this study was to investigate the strategic motives for cross-border mergers and acquisitions, as well as, examines specific relationships between these strategic motives and international business performance (IBP) of Nigerian manufacturing firms that have implemented international mergers and acquisition as a strategic imperative in the past one decade. 462 senior and management staff of 13 Nigerian manufacturing companies, quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange was randomly selected from a business-to-business database maintained by a national list provider. Using the integrated conceptual framework of cross-border entry strategy by Du and Boateng (2012), factors manifesting international business performance were regressed on the strategic motives for Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisition (CBM&As). Findings based on the survey revealed that strategic motives positively affected international business performance of Nigerian manufacturing firms involved in CBM&As. Overall, the paper argue that an institution-based motive of CBM&As, in combination with transaction cost-analysis, resource-based views, and internalization views will not only help sustain a strategy tripod, but also shed significant light on the most fundamental questions confronting motives for cross-border mergers and acquisition. Hence, a model incorporating the key elements of each approach could present a more realistic and comprehensive picture of CBM&As strategies. The model also provides predictive implications on improved international business performance, given the activities of the strategic motives for CBM&As by Nigerian manufacturing firms.
Keywords: CBM&As, Cross-border Mergers and Acquisition, Institutional Theory, Internalization theory, International Business performance, Manufacturing Firms, Nigeria, Regression Analysis, Resource-Based View, Transaction Cost Analysis
