Mergers & Acquisition Decisions in the Energy Sector Based on Financial Transparency and Audit Opinions

The BRICS countries are known to be a key market for foreign direct investment. This paper analyzes the decision of EU acquirers from developed economies to invest in the energy sector in BRICS countries. Using empirical evidence on 4,222 cross-border M&As and fuzzy logic, the research results show that acquirers consider macroeconomic factors as significant. When choosing a company located in the BRICS, its audit status is significant, but financial returns are not. This fact indicates that for sustainable decisions, industry is importantly correlated with financial information quality but not with company performance.