Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-20-2014
Abstract
A popular view is that private equity (PE) firms tend to expropriate other stakeholders of their portfolio companies. Bonds offered during 1992-2011 by companies after their initial public offerings (IPOs) do not reflect this view. We find that yield spreads on bonds offered by PE-backed companies are on average 70 basis points lower, holding other things constant. We also find that PE-backed companies have more conservative investment and dividend policies after bond offerings compared to non-PE-backed companies. These results suggest that PE firms’ reputational concerns dominate their wealth expropriation incentives and help their portfolio companies reduce the costs of debt.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1017/S0022109016000053
Recommended Citation
Huang, Rongbing and Ritter, Jay R. and Zhang, Donghang, Private Equity Firms’ Reputational Concerns and the Costs of Debt Financing (February 20, 2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2205720