Acquisitions in the biopharmaceutical IPO market: Collaboration, competition and co-opetition

The present paper explores the little studied area concerning the acquisition of recent biopharmaceutical initial public offering firms. We examine the nature of the relationship between the acquiring firm and the acquired initial public offering firm prior to the acquisition and from the perspective of the resource-based view. We find to some extent that firm specific-resources affect the prospect that the firm will be acquired. Furthermore, our findings show that firms with more of these types of resources are likely to be acquired by firms engaged in co-opetition rather than by firms engaged solely in collaboration, competition, or (to a limited extent) with no prior relationship.