PRICE PERFORMANCE OF INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS OF MASTER LIMITED PARTNERSHIP UNITS

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper is the first to provide evidence on the pricing of initial public offerings of master limited partnerships (MLPs). A sample of fifty MLP offerings from January 1983 through July 1987 is analyzed. No significant underpricing (or overpricing) is found for the sample taken as a whole, although some slight overpricing is found for certain industry subsamples. These findings are in sharp contrast to the pervasive evidence from previous studies that document significantly positive initial returns for common stock initial offerings.