Auditor Changes and the Pricing of Seasoned Equity Offers

Abstract

While prior literature examines the role of auditors in the pricing of initial public offerings, little is known about the effect of auditor changes on the pricing of seasoned offers. Our examination of seasoned equity offerings shows that companies switching auditors prior to the offerings underprice their offers more than do companies without changes. While we provide evidence of issuers' opportunistic accounting decisions that are consistent with their opinion-shopping behavior, the positive association between underpricing and auditor changes suggests that switchers bear a net cost compared to non-switchers. From a practical standpoint, our findings alert a company considering a change of its auditor prior to a new equity issue.