Credit crunch and timing of initial public offerings

Abstract

We find that firms with more outstanding short-term debt are more likely to go public in bear markets than firms with less short-term debt. Importantly, this finding is evident for firms going public after a reduction of total bank credits in the loan market. Bear market IPOs repay more short-term debt during the IPO year than other IPOs do, and have lower offering prices and proceeds. These results suggest a credit crunch significantly affects the timing and costs of IPOs when firms owe significant short-term debt.