O objetivo deste artigo foi avaliar se as fusões e aquisições de empresas brasileiras resultaram em sinergias operacionais e criaram valor para os acionistas. Além disso, buscou-se identificar a existência de correlação entre três medidas utilizadas de criação de valor, visando justificar o seu uso como proxies alternativas do desempenho empresarial. Assim, realizou-se um estudo descritivo que utizou os testes Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test e do Rank Test para analisar dados trimestrais de 72 processos de F&A's ocorridos entre jan./96 e dez./04. As F&A's estudadas resultaram em sinergias operacionais e na maximização do valor de mercado das empresas pesquisadas, e, aparentemente, da riqueza dos acionistas. Foram, ainda, encontradas correlações significativas entre as variáveis de criação de valor.

The objective of this article was to assess if mergers and acquisitions in Brazilian companies resulted in operating synergies and created value for shareholders. An attempt was also made to identify the existence of the correlation between three value creation measures used, with the aim of justifying their use as alternative proxies for corporate performance. A descriptive study was carried out that used the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and the Rank Test for analyzing the quarterly data of 72 Mergers & Acquisitions processes that occurred between January 1996 and December 2004. The Mergers & Acquisitions studied resulted in operating synergies and maximization of the market value of the companies surveyed and apparently of shareholder wealth. Significant correlations were also found between the value creation variables.