Why Did Google Buy Fitbit? The Propensity of Platform Businesses to Select Unrelated Acquisition Targets

Abstract

The M&A strategies of businesses operating on a platform model have received scant academic attention, despite the economic predominance of platform firms and the aggressiveness of their acquisition programs. In addition to undertaking more acquisitions than non-platform firms of similar economic stature, leading platform firms often pursue unrelated targets, against the majority of studies in M&A literature that pinpoints business relatedness as the key mechanism for synergy creation. This study examines how platform firms differ from non-platform firms in selecting acquisition targets and what influences their propensity to acquire targets with a low level of relatedness. It begins by investigating two unique and fundamental traits of platform businesses that distinguish them from non-platform businesses: their governance of ecosystems, rather than mere products and services, and their possession of an installed base, which grants them the leverage to venture into new industries with comparative ease. Based on these two characteristics, this paper argues that platform firms are more inclined to take over firms with a larger relatedness gap than non-platform firms. Furthermore, as their installed bases increase, platform businesses more frequently utilize unrelated acquisitions to expand into industries distant from their core business domain. An analysis of 1,027 acquisitions completed between 2009 and 2019 by firms listed in the NASDAQ-100 supports these arguments. In addition to performing the first empirical analysis of the M&A activity of platform businesses in a multi-industry context, this study contributes to the development of an integrative view that connects the fragmented understanding of platforms by utilizing a comprehensive definition of platforms and a classification system that categorizes platforms into three different types based on their primary function (innovation platforms, transaction platforms, and integrated platforms).

본 연구는 연관성이 낮은 기업을 인수합병(unrelated M&A)을 하는 플랫폼(platform) 기업의 M&A 전략을 조사한다. 이전의 연구들은 미국을 비롯한 각국의 대기업이 사업연관성(business relatedness)이 높은 기업을 인수함으로써 시너지를 창출(synergy creation)해왔다고 분석했다. 하지만 구글, 아마존, 페이스북, 애플, 마이크로소프트와 같은 플랫폼 기업들은 오히려 사업 연관성이 낮은 기업을 M&A함으로써 성장하고 있다. 이번 연구는 그러한 이유를 분석하기 위해 비플랫폼 (non-platform) 사업과 구별되는 플랫폼 사업의 두 가지 근본적인 특징, 즉 생태계(ecosystem) 구축과 설치기반(installed base) 보유에 대해 면밀히 조사한다. 구체적으로, 나스닥 100지수(NASDAQ-100)에 상장된 기업이 2009부터 2019년까지 진행한 1,027건의 인수 합병을 실증적으로 분석함으로써, 플랫폼 기업이 전통적인 파이프라인(pipeline) 기업보다 사업 연관성이 떨어지는 피인수기업(target firm)을 선택하는 경향이 있고, 이러한 기질은 플랫폼 기업의 설치기반의 규모가 증가하면서 강화된다고 검증하였다. 이러한 결과는 플랫폼 사업의 M&A 전략을 최초로 다산업적 맥락에서 통계적으로 실험하였다는 방법론적 기여와, 플랫폼에 대한 3가지 유형분류와 통합적 이해를 제공한다는 이론적 기여점을 나타낸다.