Mj. Brennan et J. Franks, UNDERPRICING, OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL IN INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS OF EQUITY SECURITIES IN THE UK, Journal of financial economics, 45(3), 1997, pp. 391-413
In this paper we examine how separation of ownership and control evolv
es as a result of an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and how the underpr
icing of the issue can be used by insiders to retain control. Using da
ta from a sample of 69 IPOs in the UK, we show that underpricing is us
ed to ensure oversubscription and rationing in the share allocation pr
ocess so as to allow owners to discriminate between applicants for sha
res and to reduce the block size of new shareholdings. We find that of
the pre-IPO shareholders in a firm, directors sell only a modest frac
tion of their shares at the time of the offering and in the seven subs
equent years. In contrast, holdings of non-directors are virtually eli
minated during the same period. As a result, in less than seven years,
almost two-thirds of the offering company's shares have been sold to
outside shareholders, thereby substantially advancing the process of s
eparation of ownership and control. Additional evidence in the paper s
uggests that rationing in the IPO discriminates against applicants who
apply for large blocks, and that larger underpricing is associated wi
th smaller blocks being held by new investors some seven years after t
he IPO. Also, there is a low level of hostile takeovers in the period
of up to ten years after the IPO. which is consistent with effective p
rotection by insiders against hostile changes of control.