Unlocking the mergers and acquisitions puzzle in the United Arab Emirates: Investigating the impact of corporate leverage on target selection and payment methods.

Following a long stream of literature on the drivers of Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) activities, this study examines the effect of corporate leverage on several decisions of M&A deals in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Using M&A data from the Thomson One database for the period between 2005 and 2022, we find that corporate leverage significantly influences the type of M&A target. This study further adds to the prior literature on the contradictory behaviours of high and low leverage firms by examining whether acquisition decisions differ amongst them in M&A deals in the UAE context. Results indicate that high (low) leverage firms are less (more) likely to acquire private targets and more (less) inclined to acquire a target from a different (same) industry. Furthermore, our results show that the relationship between the method of payment used in M&A deals and corporate leverage is insignificant. We control for endogeneity using Heckman's two-stage method. In brief, this paper extends the literature with conclusive evidence that considerations of capital structure can significantly anticipate and explain firms' behaviour toward M&A choices. The implication of findings may include a call to reform some aspects of the Competition Law in the UAE by requiring private firms to enhance their disclosure practices similar to their public counterparts.

Effect of different angulations and collar lengths of conical hybrid implant abutment on screw loosening after dynamic cyclic loading.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of different angulations and collar lengths of the implant abutment on screw loosening by measuring removal torque value (RTV) before and after dynamic cyclic loading using digital torque gauge. METHODS: A total 90 sets of 4.5 mm diameter × 10 mm length bone level implants with conical hybrid connection were used. They were divided equally according to abutment angulation, into three groups: GI 0° abutment, GII 15° abutment, and GIII 25°. Each group was divided into two subgroups, 15 each, according to collar height: subgroup A (2 mm) and subgroup B (4 mm). Each implant and abutment assembly was positioned vertically in the center of the acrylic resin block using stainless steel cylindrical split mold. Initial analysis was made by abutment screw tightened with 30 Ncm torque twice with 10-min intervals using a digital torque gauge. RTV before and after cyclic loading of the abutment screws were measured in newton centimeter using digital torque gauge. One hundred thousand cycles of eccentric dynamic cyclic loading, at 130 N at a rate of 1 Hz, were applied 5 mm away from the central axis of the implant fixture. Percentage of removal torque loss (%RTL) before and after dynamic cyclic loading were calculated and statistically analyzed using the SPSS version 20. RESULTS: For GI, %initial RTL was 25.0 ± 1.5% and decreased significantly after loading (23.5 ± 2.3%). For GII, %initial RTL was 25.5 ± 1.4% and increased significantly after loading (33.4 ± 3.7%). For GIII, %initial RTL was 25.944 ± 1.2% and increased significantly after loading (40.1 ± 5.1%). There was significant effect on screw loosening for abutment angulations and collar lengths. CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this study, results suggested that screw loosening increases with increasing abutment angulations and collar lengths after dynamic cyclic loading.