Value Relevance vis-à-vis Disclosure on Business Combinations and Goodwill Recognized by Publicly Traded Brazilian Companies

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the value relevance of the level of disclosure on business combinations and goodwill recognized by publicly traded Brazilian companies. The research sample is composed of publicly traded Brazilian companies that carried out any type of business combination, as the acquiring entity, between 2010 and 2013, yielding a total sample of 202 observations. To measure the disclosure level of each, a metric was created based on CPC-15 R1 (2011) to examine certain disclosure items in order to render a greater level of detail. Data collection was carried out using the footnotes to the annual consolidated standardized financial statements (DFPs) available from the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA) website. The results revealed that disclosure levels for business combinations are positively and significantly associated with the stock price of the companies analyzed. As to the recognition of goodwill during business combinations, despite the fact that it represents a significant share of the value of the transactions, no statistical significance explaining stock price behavior was found. It also bears mentioning that the average level of disclosure identified in the explanatory notes in the sample was very low, indicating that companies need to improve when it comes to transparency of information.