Dual-listed companies
This webpage provides the complete collection of data, background material, graphs, and results of my paper “The Risk and Return of Arbitrage in Dual-Listed Companies” (previously called “The Limits of Arbitrage: Evidence from Dual-Listed Companies”), jointly written with Abe de Jong and Leonard Rosenthal – Review of Finance, 13, 495-520, 2009.
A dual-listed company (DLC) structure (also referred to as a “Siamese twin”) involves two companies incorporated in different countries contractually agreeing to operate their businesses as if they were a single enterprise, while retaining their separate legal identity and existing stock exchange listings. In integrated and efficient financial markets, stock prices of the twin pair should move in lockstep. In practice, DLC share prices exhibit large deviations from theoretical parity (see the graph of Royal Dutch/Shell above). Our paper documents the risk and return of arbitrage strategies using a comprehensive sample of 12 DLCs during the period 1980-2002.
Data and background material
(If you use these data, please refer to the paper and the website as the source of the data.)
Royal Dutch / Shell
Unilever
ABB
Smithkline Beecham
Fortis
Elsevier / Reed International
Rio Tinto
Dexia
Merita / Nordbanken
Zürich Allied / Allied Zürich
BHP Billiton
Brambles Industries
Additional information and results
Literature on DLCs
Information on DLC arbitrage
Additional analyses and information