The thesis aims to apply the theoretical approach of IPOs and financial services firm valuation on the Czech subsidiary of KBC: ČSOB. The theoretical part reviews the process of IPO with typical features of IPOs, and the pricing of IPO is discussed with the focus on theory of banks valuation. The empirical part of the thesis provides a financial analysis of the ČSOB, business plan and the valuation of the bank as of 30 September 2010 with the price of the actual IPO. This part aims at practical application of the theory of IPO and valuation. Al in all, the aim of the thesis is to apply theoretical knowledge of the IPOs on the practical case of ČSOB. Various analyses such as of KBC, ČSOB, Czech banking market, development of IPOs in CEE are used in order to apply and determine the reasons for the IPO, its timing, price and potential structure of investors.

The application of the internet technology on securities markets has been increasing over recent years, so is the influence it has caused on the way the stock market is operated. There is no doubt that internet technology is changing the access between investors and issuing firms, as well as the access between investors and exchanges. How would this affect the stock market microstructure? Little study has been done thus far in this regard, and, as far as we know, none has looked into the issue of IPOs on internet and its related impact on IPO returns. In addition to the impact on the primary market, internet tradings also have immense impact on the underlying performance of the secondary market. The purposes of this study are mainly twofold:(1) To explore the related issues in IPOs or DPOs on internet, e.g., the disclosure requirements, the restriction of investors, and the effect it has on IPO discounts,(2) To empirically test how the internet trading affects the daily and intraday performance (i.e., liquidity, volatility and efficiency) of the market.This is the first study attempting to examine the pricing issue of IPOs on the internet. We hope to compare the returns of initial public offerings on the internet with those of the traditional IPOs and analyze the differences, if any. In addition to provide useful analyses to the security authority on DPOs or IPOs on internet, the result of this study should contribute to our understanding of the market microstructure.

Underprissättning vid en börsintroduktion (Initial Public Offering, IPO) har blivit ett uppmärksammat fenomen inom litteraturen för företagsfinansiering. Tidigare forskning har identifierat en trend att IPO:er är i genomsnitt underprissatta, och graden av underprissättning kan variera kraftigt. Men en enhetlig förklaring till denna variation har ännu inte kunnat fastslås. Fenomenet har studerats på internationella och lokala reglerade marknader, men ingen studie har hittills gjorts på en svensk oreglerad marknad. Syftet med uppsatsen är således att bidra till den existerande forskningen om underprissättning vid en börsintroduktion genom att undersöka huruvida det föreligger ett samband mellan resultatvolatilitet innan en börsintroduktion och graden av underprissättning av en IPO på den svenska marknaden. Urvalet består av 96 företag som noterats på First North Stockholm under åren 2017-2022, och för att undersöka sambandet genomförs en multipel linjär regressionsanalys. Vi kan konstatera att under den studerade tidsperioden var svenska IPO:er som noterats på First North i genomsnitt underprissatta med 6.52 %, och vi finner ett svagt stöd för vår hypotes att det föreligger ett positivt samband mellan resultatvolatilitet innan en börsintroduktion och underprissättning.

This dissertation consists of two essays. The first essay develops a new methodology for estimating the probability of informed trading from the observed quotes and depths, by extending the Copeland and Galai (1983) model. This measure (PROBINF) can be computed for each quote and it represents the specialist's ex-ante estimate of the probability of informed trading. I show that PROBINF exhibits a strong and robust relationship with the observed level of insider trading and with measures of the price impact of trades (ë) estimated based on the models of Glosten and Harris (1988), Madhavan and Smidt (1991) and Foster and Viswanathan (1993). In contrast, the alternative measure of the probability of informed trading (PIN) developed by Easley, Kiefer, O'Hara and Paperman (1996) exhibits a weaker and less robust relationship with insider trading and price impact of trades. The time series pattern of PROBINF in an intra-day analysis around earnings announcement is consistent with previous findings regarding informed trading. An important advantage of PROBINF over PIN and other measures of information asymmetry such as price impact of trades and adverse selection component of the spread is that, unlike these measures, it can be estimated for each quote, and thus can also be used to measure intra-day changes in informed trading and information asymmetry. In the second essay, I examine whether the underwriting syndicate composition influences the secondary market liquidity for initial public offerings (IPOs). Specifically, I argue that co-managers improve the liquidity of IPOs through the other services they provide, besides market making. Using a comprehensive sample of initial public offerings completed between January 1993 and December 2005, I find that IPOs with a high number of co-managers in their syndicates have lower spreads and a lower level of information asymmetry in the aftermarket. I argue that the information produced during the premarket and the analyst coverage in the aftermarket are the main channels through which co-managers mitigate the information asymmetry risk in the secondary market. / Ph. D.

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are public shell entities uniquely constructed to acquire one or more privately held businesses. The transaction's structural characteristics put significant pressure on the management team's capabilities to find a suitable company to acquire within the predetermined time frame. This thesis investigates whether management team characteristics, such as operating experience and gender diversity, increases the likelihood of success in identifying the target company and conducting the merger. Although not statistically significant, the results indicate that SPACs led by “C-suite” operators do not have a higher likelihood of successfully consummating a business combination. Furthermore, our data indicates gender diversity to have a positive impact on acquisition likelihood. / Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) är publika skalbolag konstruerade enkom i syfte att förvärva ett eller flera privata bolag. Transaktionen lägger stor vikt på ledningens förmåga att identifiera och förvärva en eller flera verksamheter inom en förbestämd tidsram. Studien undersöker huruvida relevanta karaktärsdrag i ledningsgruppen, såsom operationell erfarenhet och skillnader i kön, ökar sannolikheten att identifiera och förvärva dessa bolag. Resultatet av studien påvisar inget samband mellan operationell erfarenhet och ökad sannolikhet för förvärv, men däremot visar sig skillnader i kön inom ledningsgruppen ha en positiv inverkan på sannolikheten för förvärv. Sammantaget är resultaten dock inte statistiskt signifikanta.

<p>IPO underpricing is a phenomenon found in all markets worldwide. Investors are always looking for a good opportunity of short-term abnormal positive returns, and the IPOs first-day trading returns have been a good investment strategy for both institutional and private investors in all markets of the world.</p><p>This study consists at an investor’s perspective analysis of the first-day returns of 59 IPOs listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange Market from January 2004 to April 2007, where I have found a significantly mean positive underpricing of 6,60%.</p><p>I have found also some evidences of a sprouting “hot-market” period in Brazil, since the number of the IPOs in Brazil has been growing almost in an exponential speed, taking advantage of the constant growing cash inflow and liquidity of the Brazilian market, followed by the high evaluation of the Ibovespa Index, with return of 140% on the study time frame.</p><p>When categorizing the study by year, by underwriter (investment bank) and by market segment, I always have found positive adjusted initial returns, which corroborates the fact that underpricing is a constant phenomenon in the Brazilian market.</p><p>Other important facts that were identified in this study is that the average returns of the IPOs are decreasing along the years and that companies that depend to a large extent on their human capital and are in the business areas that are staff intensive have a high level of underpricing while companies that have a high level of fixed assets have a low level of underpricing.</p><p>Finally, after performing a multivariate linear regression analysis with the chosen independent variables on the full sample and some categorized samples, the results did not have enough statistical significance and consistence that could make them useful to create a statistical model to explain the underpricing level of Brazilian IPOs between January 2004 and April 2007.</p>

IPO underpricing is a phenomenon found in all markets worldwide. Investors are always looking for a good opportunity of short-term abnormal positive returns, and the IPOs first-day trading returns have been a good investment strategy for both institutional and private investors in all markets of the world. This study consists at an investor’s perspective analysis of the first-day returns of 59 IPOs listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange Market from January 2004 to April 2007, where I have found a significantly mean positive underpricing of 6,60%. I have found also some evidences of a sprouting “hot-market” period in Brazil, since the number of the IPOs in Brazil has been growing almost in an exponential speed, taking advantage of the constant growing cash inflow and liquidity of the Brazilian market, followed by the high evaluation of the Ibovespa Index, with return of 140% on the study time frame. When categorizing the study by year, by underwriter (investment bank) and by market segment, I always have found positive adjusted initial returns, which corroborates the fact that underpricing is a constant phenomenon in the Brazilian market. Other important facts that were identified in this study is that the average returns of the IPOs are decreasing along the years and that companies that depend to a large extent on their human capital and are in the business areas that are staff intensive have a high level of underpricing while companies that have a high level of fixed assets have a low level of underpricing. Finally, after performing a multivariate linear regression analysis with the chosen independent variables on the full sample and some categorized samples, the results did not have enough statistical significance and consistence that could make them useful to create a statistical model to explain the underpricing level of Brazilian IPOs between January 2004 and April 2007.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration in financial activities is a crucial topic that is gaining importance in financial markets. During the years, many studies have been conducted about Initial Public Offering (IPO) and underpricing since they are fundamental aspects of firms’ lifecycle. Nevertheless, none of these studies have appropriately related firms’ ESG characteristics to IPO underpricing. In order to fill this knowledge gap, this thesis’s purpose is to investigate whether the ESG factors of a firm have effects on its IPO underpricing in the U.S stock market. The U.S has been chosen as it is the biggest stock market in the world and because of the quality and reliability of the data available for this country.  A quantitative study is applied to investigate the relationship between ESG characteristics of the firms and the level of underpricing. First, to obtain the measurement of the ESG level of the pre-IPO firms, we have conducted two textual analysis of IPO prospectus, namely, term frequency and sentiment analysis. These indicators aim to show the disclosure level of ESG factors and whenever ESG is perceived negatively or positively by the market. Successively, the multiple regression is performed for each ESG indicator to find which measures have the analytical abilities to explain IPO underpricing. Based on the multiple regression results, we can conclude that the frequency of environmental &amp; governance terms occurred in IPO prospectus, the negative tone, and the overall sentiment of the environmental context are significantly explaining IPO underpricing. These results have given meaningful answers for our research. The market does not perceive the social factors of a firm in the IPO context. On the other hand, environmental and governance aspects still attract the market’s attention in different ways. The market is concerned about the disclosure level of the governance activities and whether these activities are sufficiently mentioned in the prospectus. Meanwhile, the market takes into serious consideration the environmental activities of a firm by assessing the qualities of these activities. Moreover, the market is more sensitive to the negative information about environmental content than positive information in the IPO context. The textual analysis methods applied in this thesis have some limitations. However, this study has the reliability to confirm that some companies’ ESG factors affect IPO underpricing. As a consequence, it is possible to state that the market cares about  ESG issues.

The prospect of earning extraordinary returns drives the allure of investing in new companies through IPOs. However, this approach may be flawed due to market conditions, information asymmetry, and behavioral biases. Past research supports evidence of the long-term underperformance of IPOs compared to the market index. Despite the substantial research on IPO performance, limited studies have focused on the long-term performance of IPOs in Sweden and among industries, particularly from 2010 to 2019. The study aims to address the existing knowledge gap and provide investors with insights into the long-term performance of Swedish IPOs and their associated industries. By analyzing IPOs, the study enhances the risk-reward understanding, informs retail investment decisions, and promotes stock market transparency in Sweden. The research employed a quantitative method with a deductive approach. Stock prices 12 and 36 months after the IPO date and prospect prices were collected as the data set. The data were analyzed using statistical applications to assess the significance of the research findings, employing a One-Sample T-test and Kruskal-Wallis H-test. The findings indicate that the IPOs in our sample underperformed the selected index, OMXSGI, with an average underperformance of 7.84% for 12 months and 12.32% for 36 months. The results are in line with previous research of similar markets as Sweden. Additionally, performance varied among industries, with the technology sector performing the best and consumer staples performing the worst.

As technology accelerates the dynamism in the global markets, companies are forced to adapt to the changing landscape. A company’s success in navigating the external environment depends on their dynamic capabilities. One of the most critical moments for many companies’ is when they conduct an IPO. Research into how an IPO affects a firm is necessary since newly listed firms have been shown to underperform compared to private firms. Dynamic capabilities have been observed to be of critical importance for IPO firms and previous research suggests that an IPO changes processes that affects a firm's ability to develop dynamic capabilities. This study explores how the development of dynamic capabilities is affected by changes to microfoundations following an IPO. The study gains insight into the subject by conducting interviews with executives from Swedish firms that underwent the IPO process during 2018-2020. The empirical findings indicate that seven microfoundations are affected by going public. The study contributes to prevailing literature by laying the groundwork for future research on how a firm's ability to develop dynamic capabilities is affected by going public and it has the potential to be a practical tool when making strategic decisions during and after an IPO process.