Abstract: Cross-border M&A is not just a game between the target and the acquirer, the consultant is another important party in the transaction. However, the existing studies pay little attention to the role of consultant teams in cross-border M&As. Taking the cross-border M&As initiated by Chinese enterprises as analyzing targets, this paper studies the influence of the consultant teams hired by the acquirers on the duration of cross-border M&As.The results show that the larger the team of consultants, the longer the M&A transaction lasts. This conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests with instrumental variables, etc.. In addition, if the consultant team has abundant host country experience, or when the target is a public-listed company, the above-mentioned effect will be weakened. When the transaction is properly-ordered M&As or the top management team of the acquirer has rich overseas experience, the above effect will be strengthened. The above conclusions have complemented the previous literatures on the role of consultants in M&As, and enriched the understanding of the process before the completion of M&As of the existing literatures. Meanwhile, the results indicate that multinational enterprises should select appropriate consultant team in accordance with the characteristics of M&A transaction to improve the efficiency. Thus, this study provides important theoretical references for enterprises to carry out cross-border M&As.

Key words: cross-border M&As, consultant team for M&As, duration of deals