Publication Type

PhD Dissertation

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

5-2026

Abstract

This study examines seller valuation in family-firm exit using the initial asking price from private M&A sales. In the sale of a family firm, it is known that seller valuation may go beyond financial value alone because owners often hold strong emotional attachments to the firm. However, it remains unclear whose judgment brings that non financial value into seller valuation and why this varies across types of family CEOs.

Drawing on socioemotional wealth theory, the study develops the mechanism at the CEO level. I argue that the anticipated SEW loss translates into seller valuation through the CEO’s judgment. When the loss is more salient to the CEO, giving up the firm is more likely to be experienced as a personal loss and to translate into a higher seller valuation. Founder CEOs are expected to hold a high baseline SEW salience, whereas among non-founder family CEOs, CEO equity ownership can make anticipated SEW loss more personally consequential.

The empirical analysis uses a proprietary Japanese SME M&A advisory database. The initial asking price provides a closer observable window into the seller valuation at the beginning of the sale process before any negotiations began. The findings show that founder CEO firms exhibit higher seller valuations than non-founder family CEO firms. At the same time, among non-founder family CEO firms, higher CEO equity ownership is linked to higher seller valuations, while this association is weak among founders. The results suggest that seller valuation in family-firm exit depends not only on family-firm context, but also on differences across CEOs within family firms.

Keywords

M&A, Family business, Socioemotional wealth, seller valuation, CEO equity ownership

Degree Awarded

PhD in Business (General Management)

Discipline

Corporate Finance | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

Supervisor(s)

THAM, Tze Minn (TAN Zimin)

First Page

1

Last Page

90

Publisher

Singapore Management University

City or Country

Singapore

Copyright Owner and License

Author

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