Company takeovers cheaper when women are on boards

Companies with more female board members pay less for acquisitions, a new study has found.

The study analysed acquisition bids of S&P 1500 companies in the United States over 12 years.

For each female board member the bid premium - the difference between the final price paid for a business and its stock price before the takeover - was lower by 15.4%.

Researchers say this bolsters calls for publicly listed companies to introduce quotas for female board members.