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Borrow Cheap, Buy High? The Determinants of Leverage and Pricing in Buyouts


Ulf Axelson


London School of Economics; Swedish Institute for Financial Research (SIFR)

Tim Jenkinson


University of Oxford - Said Business School; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Per Strömberg


Stockholm School of Economics; University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Stockholm School of Economics - Department of Finance

Michael S. Weisbach


Ohio State University (OSU) - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

October 10, 2012

Journal of Finance, Forthcoming

Abstract:     
Private equity funds pay particular attention to capital structure when executing leveraged buyouts, creating an interesting setting for examining capital structure theories. Using a large, detailed, international sample of buyouts from 1980-2008, we find that buyout leverage is unrelated to the cross-sectional factors – suggested by traditional capital structure theories – that drive public firm leverage. Instead, variation in economy-wide credit conditions is the main determinant of leverage in buyouts, while having little impact on public firms. Higher deal leverage is associated with higher transaction prices and lower buyout fund returns, suggesting that acquirers overpay when access to credit is easier.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 66

Keywords: Private Equity, Capital Structure, Buyouts, Credit Cycles

JEL Classification: G32, G34

Accepted Paper Series


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Date posted: April 27, 2010 ; Last revised: October 12, 2012

Suggested Citation

Axelson, Ulf, Jenkinson, Tim, Strömberg, Per Johan and Weisbach, Michael S., Borrow Cheap, Buy High? The Determinants of Leverage and Pricing in Buyouts (October 10, 2012). Journal of Finance, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1596019 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1596019

Contact Information

Ulf Axelson (Contact Author)
London School of Economics ( email )
United Kingdom
Swedish Institute for Financial Research (SIFR) ( email )
Drottninggatan 89
SE-113 59 Stockholm, SE-113 60
Sweden
Tim Jenkinson
University of Oxford - Said Business School ( email )
Park End Street
Oxford, OX1 1HP
United Kingdom
+44 1865 288916 (Phone)
+44 1865 288831 (Fax)
HOME PAGE: http://www.sbs.oxford.edu/timjenkinson
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
77 Bastwick Street
London, EC1V 3PZ
United Kingdom
European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
c/o ECARES ULB CP 114
B-1050 Brussels
Belgium
HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org
Per Johan Stromberg
Stockholm School of Economics
PO Box 6501
Stockholm, 11383
Sweden
University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )
5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States
773-702-0471 (Phone)
773-702-0458 (Fax)
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
77 Bastwick Street
London, EC1V 3PZ
United Kingdom
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
Stockholm School of Economics - Department of Finance ( email )
SE-113 83 Stockholm
Sweden
Michael S. Weisbach
Ohio State University (OSU) - Department of Finance ( email )
2100 Neil Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210-1144
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
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