Does M&A actually generate alpha for a company?

I have looked at all the deals I have done, and these companies have just had a disaster performance. Makes me question if I add any value or feel like I am being overpaid. However there's are many studies which show M&A actually destroys value. Has anyone looked at them and if so is there some bias which is / is not being captured. Areas of concern would be the time frame that is measured, whether there is survivorship bias etc 

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It helps in industries where scale is the name of the game, like retail banking. More deposits = more capital to lend out = more interest income.

But merging a SAAS CRM solution with a social media marketing app could be much less clear. It might make sense on paper, but A LOT will depend on integration. You’re irrelevant when it comes to their ability to integrate

 

It really depends on a number of factors. As long as a firm does their due diligence, you cannot deny that growth occurs during M&A. That is the whole idea behind synergies, and that 2+2=5 due to savings, etc. If you have an EBITDA of $500MM and you acquire a firm with $50 MM in EBITDA then you’re going to have a $550 MM EBITDA, thus generating Alpha for investors depending on what your benchmark is.

 
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