Public Market Players in the Private World: Implications for the Going-Public Process

Abstract We investigate the effect of pre-IPO investments by public market institutional investors (institutions) on the exit of venture capitalists (VCs). Results indicate that institutions’ pre-IPO investments reduce IPO underpricing by mitigating VCs’ reliance on all-star analysts to boost market...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Review of financial studies 2021-05, Vol.34 (5), p.2411-2447
Main Authors: Huang, Shiyang, Mao, Yifei, Wang, Cong (Roman), Zhou, Dexin
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Abstract We investigate the effect of pre-IPO investments by public market institutional investors (institutions) on the exit of venture capitalists (VCs). Results indicate that institutions’ pre-IPO investments reduce IPO underpricing by mitigating VCs’ reliance on all-star analysts to boost market liquidity. We conclude that institutions facilitate VC exits in the secondary market. Supporting this view, our analysis reveals that the presence of institutions allows VCs to exit with a reduced price impact in the secondary market. Consistent with the ease of exit, VCs offer fewer shares at the IPO and are more likely to invest in institutionally backed startups.
ISSN:0893-9454
1465-7368
DOI:10.1093/rfs/hhaa092