Using a hand-collected data set of private firm acquisitions and IPOs, this paper develops the first empirical analysis in the literature of the "IPO valuation premium puzzle," which refers to a situation where many private firms choose to be acquired rather than to go public at higher...

We examine the role of placement agents in private investments in public equity (PIPE) deals of firms that went public via a reverse merger (RM). We find that reputable placement agents with greater expertise (expert agents) help RM firms to complete their PIPE deals in a smaller number of...

In this paper, we empirically analyze the disclosures required by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for acquisitions of privately-held target firms by public acquirers. We find that 8-K disclosures filed by public acquirers within a week after the announcement date of the takeover of a...

We show that cross-border LBO investments involving U.S. rather than non-U.S. private equity (PE) investors are more likely to have a successful exit (IPO or acquisition). Exogenous increases in effective proximity following the signing of “Open-Sky” agreements between the U.S. and target...