This thesis takes up a very acutely relevant topic: "Do M&A transactions in the European insurance sector create value in the short- and long-term?" After national consolidation of the European banking and insurance markets had p- gressed in the 2nd half of the 1990s, the recent years showed an increasing amount of cross-border M&A especially in the banking sector. This development is surprising in light of the M&A paradox, according to which the rate of successful bank transactions is very low, yet the number of size of completed transactions constantly increases. The current empirical evidence gives reason to devote a comprehensive a- demic analysis to M&A in the European insurance industry. Furthermore, research to this topic area shows a significant industry-specific gap and largely an absence of respective empirical studies. Research concerned with the overall success of European M&A transactions are extremely rare to date, and the state of knowledge on the success of cross-border transactions in the European - surance industry are very limited. Overview of M&A in the European Insurance Industry.- Recent Studies on the Success of Insurance Transactions.- Value Creation by M&A in the European Insurance Industry - an Empirical Investigation.- Case Studies on Value Creation by M&A in the European Insurance Industry. Dr. Andreas Schertzinger promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Dirk Schiereck am Stiftungslehrstuhl Bank- und Finanzmanagement der European Business School Oestrich-Winkel. Er ist heute als Unternehmensberater für McKinsey & Company, Inc., New York, tätig.
