SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR’S REFERENCE

Program:	Master in Management (MIM)
Student:	Iuliia Krasnorutckaia 
Title of thesis:	The effects of M&A deals on the company performance: the case of oil and gas industry
	
Justification of the topic choice. Accuracy in defining the aim and objectives of the thesis. Justification of the topic choice; accuracy in defining the aim and tasks of the thesis; originality of the topic and the extent to which it was covered; alignment of the thesis’ topic, aim and objectives.
Mergers and acquisitions are fulfilled with the aim of improvement of subsequent performance of the companies. The research is devoted to the investigation of the effects of M&A deals on the company performance. The study which focused precisely on the factors that influence the of oil and gas companies performance after  M&A deals is topical.
Structure and logic of the text flow. Logic of research; full scope of the thesis; alignment of thesis’ structural parts, i.e. theoretical and empirical parts.
The research paper is well structured. The paper takes an empirical research format, where several hypotheses are formulated and tested on the collected quantitative panel data sample. Therefore, the paper is divided in two parts: literature review and empirical research. The author introduces theoretical model of the research, defines explanatory and dependent variables to be applied in the study, describes collected data sample, provides descriptive measures of the variables, specifies the research methodology, and tests the research hypotheses.  
Quality of analytical approach and quality of offered solution to the research objectives. Adequacy of objectives coverage; ability to formulate and convey the research problem; ability to offer options for its solution; application of the latest trends in relevant research are for the set objectives.
The author demonstrates the ability to define the research questions, organize the empirical research and make conclusions.
Quality of data gathering and description. Quality of selecting research tools and methods; data validity adequacy; adequacy of used data for chosen research tools and methods; completeness and relevance of the list of references.
The required data on the deals characteristics was collected with the use of Zephyr database and Thomson Reuters Datastream. Information about companies‘financial performance was gathered in Thomson Reuters Advanced. But the description of the variables is not precise enough. 
Scientific aspect of the thesis. Independent scientific thinking in solving the set problem/objectives; the extent to which the student contributed to selecting and justifying the research model (conceptual  and/or quantitative), developing methodology/approach to set objectives.
Suggested by the existing theoretical literature on the subject, the following characteristics of M&A deals were chosen as independent variables: size of a target company;  method of payment;  size of the acquired stake; and  type of integration. The choice of the statistical model for the given research is based on the analysis of prior studies and refers to the methods applied by the authors in papers on similar problematics.
Practical/applied nature of research. Extent to which the theoretical background is related to the international or Russian managerial practice; development of applied recommendations; justification and interpretation of the empirical/applied results.
Managerial applicability was explained and several of the recommendations were to choose stock as a method of financing if the company‘s stock is overvalued, and to target relatively big companies as it has a potential of creating additional returns to scale. Finally, the research limitations and the scope for future research were also discussed.  
Quality of thesis layout. Layout fulfils the requirements of the Regulations for master thesis preparation and defence, correct layout of tables, figures, references.
There are no serious remarks to quality of thesis layout.
Originality of the text. All sources of match identified by the Safe Assign system follow the allowed cases, the paper does not contain any elements of plagiarism. 
“The thesis text is original and does not contain elements of plagiarism”


The Master thesis of Iuliia Krasnorutckaia meets for master thesis of Master in Management program thus the author of the thesis can be awarded the required degree.

03/06/15	
Associate professor                                                                                                         Olga Verkhovskaya