The study examined 204 deals around the world with a value greater than $100 million that were completed between September 15, 2008 (the day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy) and May 31, 2009.

While returns on share prices of all the companies studied tumbled 31.8 percent, the decline was significantly less for the deal-making group at 25.5 percent.

On a regional basis, deals done in North America provided the strongest results, with companies achieving a 9.1 percent better return than the market overall, measured by the MSCI World Index. Performance also varied by sector. Health care was the most buoyant, with a 13.8 percent better return than the overall global market.

The Towers Perrin study was designed to shed light on how merger and acquisition activity was affected by the crisis in the financial markets following the Lehman Brothers collapse. It shows that value can be found even in today's relatively challenging climate and that fears of pursuing deals — whether because of valuation difficulties or market volatility — can be misplaced.

The study also suggests that the more deals done by a company, the better its results relative to the overall market. Repeat acquirers over the period studied — a total of 15 companies completing 32 deals — outperformed the MSCI World Index by 8.1 percent. Companies in North America that did multiple deals outperformed by 13.3 percent.