Dividend initiations in reverse‐LBO firms

Abstract

AbstractThis article documents a lack of share price response to dividend initiation announcements by firms that recently completed a reverse‐LBO. We identify a group of firms that had recently completed an IPO and report that they experience a positive reaction to dividend initiation announcements as expected based on the prior dividend initiation literature. We rule out a size‐based explanation for the abnormal response in reverse‐LBOs and offer some potential explanations for our empirical findings.