Why are initial public offerings (IPOs) underpriced? We consider this is a strategy that insiders use to maximize their personal wealth. When a company offers shares in an initial public offering, insiders typically enter into a lock-up restriction which prohibits insiders from selling their shares within a specified period after the IPO. Insiders interested in maximizing their personal wealth will take actions to maximize the lock-up expiration share price rather than the offer price. When the IPOs underprice, the share price will go up during the honeymoon period. The large run-up in the stock price will attracts interest from the media. And the enhanced coverage brings the stock to the attention of more investors. Then the demand for the stock will increase and make the stock price go up. This allows the insiders to sell shares at the lock-up expiration at price higher than he would otherwise be able to obtain. This study examines the relationship among underpricing, coverage and return. We find that stock deposit and the age of a company are positively correlated with underpricing. The electronic-related companies are much more noticeable than underpricing to lead to more coverage. We also find that coverage is positively correlated with return through the lock-up expiration.

The dissertation examines IPO underpricing and long-term performance to assess the use of industry specialization as a differentiation strategy by audit firms and underwriters. Prior studies indicate that prestigious auditors or underwriters (e.g., Big 6 auditors) are associated with IPO underpricing. I extend existing literature by incorporating market share as a refined measure of auditor (underwriter) reputation. In particular, I define a differentiated auditor (underwriter) as the market leader that possesses significantly higher market share than their competitors in the client industry. I hypothesize that the impact of auditor (underwriter) reputation in the IPO setting depends on whether the audit firm (underwriter) has successfully differentiated itself from competitors within client industries. My results show that as audit firm (underwriter) industry market share increases without differentiation, the IPO underpricing increases. It appears that this group of auditors (underwriters) intentionally engages in high-risk IPOs in order to gain fee advantages. In contrast, differentiated auditors (underwriters) are related to lower IPO underpricing because their reputation assist in reducing information asymmetry between issuers and investors. My study is important because it shows that the benefits previously thought to be attributable to a very large set of auditors and underwriters stems primary

ABSTRACT TWO ESSAYS ON INVESTOR SENTIMENT AND EQUITY OFFERINGS BY HSIN-HUI CHIU May 2, 2006 Committee Chair: Dr. Jason T. Greene Major Department: Finance Using monthly open-end mutual fund flows as a proxy for investor sentiment, I am able to examine the impact of sentiment on IPO volume and underpricing. I find that issuers’ filing decisions are significantly affected by the predicted future sentiment around the expected IPO dates. Furthermore, sentiment has an impact on the final offer price setting and over-allotment options exercised. While previous research documents IPO cycles with respect to other proxies for investor sentiment, I am able to examine IPO cycles and underpricing with respect to sentiment along with investor risk preferences. I hypothesize that a going public firm will try to issue its IPO when investor risk preferences are favorable to the firm’s own risk characteristics. Empirical results based on 5,661 initial public offerings between 1986 and 2004 are consistent with my hypotheses that issuers not only time the market with sentiment in general, but also attempt to incorporate investor risk preferences into their going public decisions. Furthermore, underpricing is more severe when firms issue equity during months with large inflows into equity mutual funds. In my second essay, I find that SEO firms appear to time market efficiently because of the shorter filing periods compared to the average 2-3 months of the IPOs. Also, sentiment not only affects a SEO offer price setting but also affects the over-allotment options exercised. I examine two subgroups of the SEO samples: shelf registration and non-shelf SEOs. I find that shelf-registered SEOs incorporate investor sentiment into offering price to a greater degree compared to regular SEOs. Lastly I find that investor risk preference plays a role in firms’ decision to file prospectuses with the SEC. In other words, firms rationally decide the timing of filing based on the predicted investor preference and try to match firm characteristics with investor preference around the expected SEO date.

The restrictive listing requirements imposed by the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange results in the listing of high quality companies, while at the same time provides a higher degree of investor protection. These requirements can however be an obstacle for small and growing companies to go public and raise capital. Thus AIM has developed in order to facilitate the growth of these companies by its lighter listing requirements. This thesis is focused on three outcomes of the lighter listing requirements of AIM. First, AIM companies have a high ownership concentration and lower investor protection, thus enabling blockholders to have a significant impact on their value. This thesis finds that non-managerial and managerial blockholders have quadratic and cubic relationships with firm value respectively. Also, both types of blockholder increase the value of the firm until the first break point which is approximately 30 percent. This is almost exactly the point that the LSE defines as a cut-off point at which the blockholder is regarded as a controlling shareholder. Second, companies moving from the Main market to the AIM impair their information environment when entering the AIM; the information environment is measured by the stock’s liquidity and volatility. This thesis finds that firms experience lower trading activity and lower trading volume, which results in lower liquidity and volatility than matched companies that remain in the Main Market. Third, IPOs listing in the AIM are underpriced in order to compensate for risk. However, the level of underpricing can be alleviated by appointing a reputable Nomad. Underpricing facilitates IPOs to achieve higher aftermarket liquidity in two ways: First, directly by attracting investor attention; and second by diversifying ownership. However, aftermarket liquidity is evident for a longer period than other markets because of a longer lock up period.

This paper examines the IPO pricing processes of two different markets, each of which employs bookbuilding methods for marketing the IPO shares. For each market we investigate two questions: Does bookbuilding serve mainly as a method for distributing shares, or also as a means for gathering information? And, to what extent do underwriters respond in IPO pricing to any information that they obtain through bookbuilding? We find that a direct comparison of these two markets sheds light on the bookbuilding process in each. For Nasdaq IPOs we find evidence consistent with informational rents being earned by investors for providing information during bookbuilding. On the Neuer Markt there is no such evidence. Instead, we find evidence consistent with rents being paid for information that helps underwriters to set indicative price ranges prior to bookbuilding. The two markets differ further in how underwriters respond to information in pricing IPOs. For the Neuer Markt, this response is severly constrained since underwriters do not set prices above the price ranges. We estimate the total cost of this "restriction" to be approximately one billion Euros for our sample of IPOs. While there are no such apparent restrictions for Nasdaq, we show that also on this market IPO prices are "sticky" in that underwriters respond less to information received later in the pricing process. / Series: Working Papers SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

Tidigare forskning har visat underprissättning under Dotcom bubblan. I denna studie har underprissättning för börsnoteringar på amerikanska börser samt variabler som påverkar underprissättning undersökts för åren 1995-2018. Med utgångspunkt i teorin underprissättning vid börsnotering, använder sig studien utav relevanta teorier. Studien undersöker avkastning som uppstår vid första handelsdagen för börsnoteringar och kontrolleras sedan för oberoende variabler. De oberoende variabler består av ålder, Market Cap, USA, FinTech, skulder, intäkter och Market to book. Urvalet består av 123 IPO:er för både Dotcom och FinTech. Den period som vi undersöker för Dotcom-företagen är mellan 1995-2002. För FinTech företagen är perioden 2008-2019. Studien tillämpar en linjär multipel regression för att behandla de olika variablernas förklaringsgrad. Resultaten visar att underprissättning för FinTech IPO mellan 2008-2019 är lägre än underprissättningsnivån för Dot-Com IPO: er. Slutsatsen som dras är att stickproven från Dot-Com IPO:er består av företag som var etablerade under Dotcom perioden 1995-2002. / This paper examines the valuation of Dotcom and FinTech companies by observing the under-pricing level of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). The sample that we are analysing are 123 IPOs for both Dotcom and FinTech companies. The period that we are examining for the Dotcom companies is between 1995-2002. For the FinTech sample, the period is between 2008-2019. The results show that the underpricing level of FinTech IPO in the past years is less than the underpricing level of Dot-Com IPOs. The study shows that Dotcom IPOs had approximately 120% more in underpricing than the FinTech samples. To understand if there were any variables affecting the underpricing between the two samples the study used Multivariate regression. The variables are age, market cap, US, FinTech, debts, revenue and market to book. For both FinTech and Dotcom companies, the study has shown that age was the only variable who had significant positive correlation to under-pricing.

This thesis examines underpricing in Sweden using unique data on the 185 firms going public through initial public offerings (IPOs) and listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange between 1994-2011. The average initial return in the Swedish IPO market adjusted for index movements is 11.49% but underpricing of individual IPOs was as high as 241.04%. Further, time trends in underpricing, the level of average initial returns effect on IPO supply underpricing and differences between sectors, segments and investment banks are examined. Finally, it is argued that investors must be rewarded for taking the high risk associated with IPO investing and that the average initial return of 11.49% is a reasonable compensation for that risk.

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Börsintroduktion är en process som innebär att ett företag för första gången tillgängliggör sina aktier för handel på börsen. Vid fastställandet av priset på en aktie finns två metoder som företag kan tillämpa, vilket är fast eller intervallprissättning. Problem som kan uppstå i samband med en börsintroduktion är att teckningskursen inte blir värderad till det pris som marknadsvärdet uppskattas till, vilket kallas underprissättning. Denna studie syftar till estimera magnituden av en eventuell underprissättning och jämföra olika faktorers påverkan på denna. Vidare är syftet att identifiera hur valet av prissättningsmetod påverkar den eventuella underprissättningen på den svenska börsmarknaden. Med hjälp av en regressionsanalys på 149 observationer, kom författarna av denna studie fram till att den genomsnittliga underprissättningen för perioden 2005-2015 har varit 4,61 %. Det konstaterades att en fast prissättningsmetod medför en högre förstadagsavkasting och att den rådande marknadsavkastningen har störst påverkan på underprissättningen. / IPO (Initial Public Offering) is a process in which a company for the first time starts to sell its shares on the stock market. When determining the share price, there are two methods acompany can use - bookbuilding or the fixed price method. Problems that may arise when introducing an IPO is that the offered price will not be equivalently valued with regard to the estimated market value, which is also called underpricing. The aim of this study is to estimatethe magnitude of a potential underpricing and to compare different impacts from various factors. Furthermore, the aim of the study is to identify how the choice of pricing method impacts the potential underpricing on the Swedish stock market. In a sample of 149 observations, the regression analysis implies that the market-adjusted underpricing is 4,61 % during the years 2005-2015. We find that a fixed price method generates higher average initial return. We also find that the current market rate of return has the greatest impact on underpricing.

Bakgrund: Underprissättning vid börsintroduktioner är ett väldokumenterat fenomen med flera teoretiska infallsvinklar, men kvarstår fortfarande som ett utav pusslen inom finansiell ekonomi. Underprissättningen, som avser en positiv avkastning efter första handelsdagens slut, skiljer sig i nivå mellan länder och över olika tidsperioder. Formella och informella institutioner är viktiga dimensioner för att förstå företagens och investerarnas strategier, vilket gör att den institutionella miljön även kan förväntas förklara skillnader i underprissättningsnivån. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka om och hur formella och informella institutioner kan förklara variationen i underprissättningsnivån mellan länder. Metod: Studien följer ett kvantitativt förhållningssätt där 16 hypoteser deduceras. Dessa hypoteser består av olika formella och informella institutionella faktorer som förväntas påverka underprissättningsnivån. Det empiriska materialet består av 6993 börsintroduktioner för perioden mellan 2006 och 2014 och utgör data från 25 länder med olika institutionella karaktärsdrag. Korrelationer undersöks genom en korrelationsmatris medan sambanden analyseras med hjälp av multipla regressioner. Resultat: Resultaten visar att den institutionella miljön har en signifikant påverkan på underprissättningsnivån. En högre kvalité på de formella institutionerna minskar underprissättningsgraden, främst som en följd av att problemen med informationsasymmetrier reduceras. Graden av underprissättning påverkas också av skillnader i informella institutioner där olika kulturella miljöer och normer framhäver skilda beteenden hos börsintroduktionens inblandade parter. / Background: IPO underpricing is a well-documented phenomenon with several theoretical approaches, but it is still one of the puzzles within financial economics. Underpricing, which refers to a positive return after the first day of trade, differ in level between countries and over time. Formal and informal institutions are important dimensions to understand the strategies used within businesses and by investors, which allows the institutional environment to also explain the variations in the level of underpricing. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine if and how formal and informal institutions can explain the variation in level of underpricing between countries. Method: The study follows a quantitative research approach where 16 hypotheses are derived. These hypotheses consist of different formal and informal institutional factors which are expected to explain the differences in the level of underpricing. The empirical data consists of 6993 IPOs between the period of 2006 and 2014 and represents 25 countries with different institutional characteristics. The correlations between the variables are examined in a correlation matrix while the relationships are analyzed by the use of multiple regressions. Conclusions: The results show that the institutional environment has a significant impact on the level of underpricing. A higher quality in the formal institutions reduces the level of underpricing, mainly because of reduced problems with information asymmetry. The level of underpricing is also affected by differences in informal institutions, where different cultural environments and values emphasize different behaviors of the IPO involved parties.