IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfinec/v117y2015i3p607-627.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A theory of LBO activity based on repeated debt-equity conflicts

Author

Listed:
  • Malenko, Andrey
  • Malenko, Nadya

Abstract

We develop a theory of leveraged buyout (LBO) activity based on two elements: the ability of private equity-owned firms to borrow against their sponsors׳ reputation with creditors and externalities in sponsors׳ reputations due to competition and club formation. In equilibrium, the two sources of value creation in LBOs, operational improvements and financing, are complements. Moreover, sponsors that never add operational value cannot add value through financing either. Club deals are beneficial ex post by allowing low-reputation bidders with high valuations to borrow reputation from high-reputation bidders with low valuations, but they can destroy value by reducing bidders׳ investment in reputation. Unlike leverage of independent firms, driven only by firm-specific factors, buyout leverage is driven by economy-wide and sponsor-specific factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Malenko, Andrey & Malenko, Nadya, 2015. "A theory of LBO activity based on repeated debt-equity conflicts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 607-627.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:117:y:2015:i:3:p:607-627
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2015.06.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304405X15001002
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfineco.2015.06.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mike Burkart & Amil Dasgupta, 2014. "Activist Funds, Leverage, and Procyclicality," FMG Discussion Papers dp733, Financial Markets Group.
    2. Ulf Axelson & Tim Jenkinson & Per Strömberg & Michael S. Weisbach, 2013. "Borrow Cheap, Buy High? The Determinants of Leverage and Pricing in Buyouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(6), pages 2223-2267, December.
    3. Douglas W. Diamond & Zhiguo He, 2014. "A Theory of Debt Maturity: The Long and Short of Debt Overhang," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(2), pages 719-762, April.
    4. Jeremy Bulow & Ming Huang & Paul Klemperer, 1999. "Toeholds and Takeovers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(3), pages 427-454, June.
    5. Ludovic Phalippou & Oliver Gottschalg, 2009. "The Performance of Private Equity Funds," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(4), pages 1747-1776, April.
    6. Valentin Haddad & Erik Loualiche & Matthew Plosser, 2017. "Buyout Activity: The Impact of Aggregate Discount Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(1), pages 371-414, February.
    7. Wouter De Maeseneire & Samantha Brinkhuis, 2012. "What drives leverage in leveraged buyouts? An analysis of European leveraged buyouts’ capital structure," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52, pages 155-182, October.
    8. Lichtenberg, Frank R. & Siegel, Donald, 1990. "The effects of leveraged buyouts on productivity and related aspects of firm behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 165-194, September.
    9. Ulf Axelson & Per Strömberg & Michael S. Weisbach, 2009. "Why Are Buyouts Levered? The Financial Structure of Private Equity Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(4), pages 1549-1582, August.
    10. Steven N. Kaplan & Antoinette Schoar, 2005. "Private Equity Performance: Returns, Persistence, and Capital Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(4), pages 1791-1823, August.
    11. Boucly, Quentin & Sraer, David & Thesmar, David, 2011. "Growth LBOs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 432-453.
    12. Officer, Micah S. & Ozbas, Oguzhan & Sensoy, Berk A., 2010. "Club deals in leveraged buyouts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 214-240, November.
    13. Anil Shivdasani & Yihui Wang, 2011. "Did Structured Credit Fuel the LBO Boom?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(4), pages 1291-1328, August.
    14. Viral V. Acharya & Oliver F. Gottschalg & Moritz Hahn & Conor Kehoe, 2013. "Corporate Governance and Value Creation: Evidence from Private Equity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(2), pages 368-402.
    15. Paul Povel & Rajdeep Singh, 2010. "Stapled Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 927-953, June.
    16. Steven N. Kaplan & Jeremy C. Stein, 1993. "THE EVOLUTION OF BUYOUT PRICING AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE (OR, WHAT WENT WRONG) IN THE 1980s," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 6(1), pages 72-88, March.
    17. repec:bla:econom:v:70:y:2003:i:279:p:385-404 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Kaplan, Steven, 1989. "The effects of management buyouts on operating performance and value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 217-254.
    19. John, Kose & Nachman, David C, 1985. "Risky Debt, Investment Incentives, and Reputation in a Sequential Equilibrium," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(3), pages 863-878, July.
    20. Demiroglu, Cem & James, Christopher M., 2010. "The role of private equity group reputation in LBO financing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 306-330, May.
    21. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    22. Johannes Hörner, 2002. "Reputation and Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 644-663, June.
    23. Cumming, Douglas & Siegel, Donald S. & Wright, Mike, 2007. "Private equity, leveraged buyouts and governance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 439-460, September.
    24. Alexander Ljungqvist & Matthew Richardson & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2020. "The investment behavior of buyout funds: Theory and evidence," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(1), pages 3-32, March.
    25. Paul Povel & Rajdeep Singh, 2006. "Takeover Contests with Asymmetric Bidders," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(4), pages 1399-1431.
    26. Diamond, Douglas W, 1989. "Reputation Acquisition in Debt Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 828-862, August.
    27. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Stromberg, 2009. "Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 121-146, Winter.
    28. John R. Graham, 2000. "How Big Are the Tax Benefits of Debt?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(5), pages 1901-1941, October.
    29. Shourun Guo & Edith S. Hotchkiss & Weihong Song, 2011. "Do Buyouts (Still) Create Value?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 479-517, April.
    30. Steven N. Kaplan & Jeremy C. Stein, 1993. "The Evolution of Buyout Pricing and Financial Structure in the 1980s," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 313-357.
    31. Mailath, George J. & Samuelson, Larry, 2006. "Repeated Games and Reputations: Long-Run Relationships," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195300796.
    32. Alexander S. Gorbenko & Andrey Malenko, 2014. "Strategic and Financial Bidders in Takeover Auctions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(6), pages 2513-2555, December.
    33. Bar-Isaac, Heski, 2005. "Imperfect competition and reputational commitment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 167-173, November.
    34. Marc Martos-Vila & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf & Jarrad Harford, 2013. "Financial vs. Strategic Buyers," NBER Working Papers 19378, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Boone, Audra L. & Mulherin, J. Harold, 2011. "Do private equity consortiums facilitate collusion in takeover bidding?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1475-1495.
    36. Viral V. Acharya & Julian Franks & Henri Servaes, 2007. "Private Equity: Boom and Bust?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 19(4), pages 44-53, September.
    37. Bond, Philip & Rai, Ashok S., 2009. "Borrower runs," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 185-191, March.
    38. Marquez, Robert & Singh, Rajdeep, 2013. "The economics of club bidding and value creation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 493-505.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mike Burkart & Amil Dasgupta, 2014. "Activist Funds, Leverage, and Procyclicality," FMG Discussion Papers dp733, Financial Markets Group.
    2. Tarsalewska, Monika, 2018. "Buyouts under the threat of preemption," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 39-58.
    3. K.S. Reddy & En Xie & Yuanyuan Huang, 2016. "Contractual buyout - a legitimate growth model in the enterprise development: foundations and implications," International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 15(1), pages 1-23.
    4. Sharjil M. Haque & Simon Mayer & Teng Wang, 2024. "How Private Equity Fuels Non-Bank Lending," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-015, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Valentin Haddad & Erik Loualiche & Matthew Plosser, 2017. "Buyout Activity: The Impact of Aggregate Discount Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(1), pages 371-414, February.
    6. Antonio Salvi & Emanuele Teti & Anastasia Giakoumelou, 2021. "The Relationship between LBOs, IPOs and Market Risk Premium: An Empirical Analysis of the European Market," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(7), pages 160-160, July.
    7. Sharjil M. Haque & Anya V. Kleymenova, 2023. "Private Equity and Debt Contract Enforcement: Evidence from Covenant Violations," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-018, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    8. Phalippou, Ludovic & Rauch, Christian & Umber, Marc, 2018. "Private equity portfolio company fees," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(3), pages 559-585.
    9. Chiarella, Carlo & Ostinelli, Diego, 2020. "Financial or strategic buyers: Who is at the gate?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 393-407.
    10. Dasgupta, Amil & Burkart, Mike, 2020. "Competition for flow and and short-termism in activism," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106516, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Burkart, Mike & Lee, Samuel & Petri, Henrik, 2020. "The Social Value of Debt in the Market for Corporate Control," CEPR Discussion Papers 15249, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Sharjil M. Haque, 2023. "Does Private Equity Over-Lever Portfolio Companies?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-009, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    13. Bustamante, Maria Cecilia & Zucchi, Francesca, 2023. "Innovation, industry equilibrium, and discount rates," Working Paper Series 2835, European Central Bank.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arcot, Sridhar & Fluck, Zsuzsanna & Gaspar, José-Miguel & Hege, Ulrich, 2015. "Fund managers under pressure: Rationale and determinants of secondary buyouts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 102-135.
    2. Andrew Metrick & Ayako Yasuda, 2011. "Venture Capital and Other Private Equity: a Survey," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 619-654, September.
    3. Chiarella, Carlo & Ostinelli, Diego, 2020. "Financial or strategic buyers: Who is at the gate?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 393-407.
    4. Ulf Axelson & Tim Jenkinson & Per Strömberg & Michael S. Weisbach, 2013. "Borrow Cheap, Buy High? The Determinants of Leverage and Pricing in Buyouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(6), pages 2223-2267, December.
    5. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2017. "Leveraged Buyouts : A Survey of the Literature," Discussion Paper 2017-015, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    6. Ann-Kristin Achleitner & Reiner Braun & Eva Lutz & Florian Tappeiner, 2018. "Private equity group reputation and financing structures in German leveraged buyouts," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 363-392, May.
    7. Valkama, Petri & Maula, Markku & Nikoskelainen, Erkki & Wright, Mike, 2013. "Drivers of holding period firm-level returns in private equity-backed buyouts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2378-2391.
    8. Dyaran Bansraj & Han Smit & Vadym Volosovych, 2020. "Can Private Equity Funds Act as Strategic Buyers? Evidence from Buy-and-Build Strategies," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-041/IV, Tinbergen Institute.
    9. Ann‐Kristin Achleitner & Reiner Braun & Nico Engel, 2011. "Value creation and pricing in buyouts: Empirical evidence from Europe and North America," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 146-161, November.
    10. Phalippou, Ludovic & Rauch, Christian & Umber, Marc, 2018. "Private equity portfolio company fees," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(3), pages 559-585.
    11. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Stromberg, 2009. "Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 121-146, Winter.
    12. Achleitner, Ann-Kristin & Braun, Reiner & Engel, Nico, 2011. "Value creation and pricing in buyouts: Empirical evidence from Europe and North America," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 146-161.
    13. Ayash, Brian & Schütt, Harm, 2016. "Does going private add value through operating improvements?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 192-215.
    14. Sharjil M. Haque, 2023. "Does Private Equity Over-Lever Portfolio Companies?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-009, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    15. Giovannetti, Andrea & Pipic, Denis, 2023. "Shaking hands with common foes: Clique premium and information diffusion in private equity networks," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    16. Stefano Bonini, 2015. "Secondary Buyouts: Operating Performance and Investment Determinants," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 44(2), pages 431-470, June.
    17. Stanfield, Jared, 2020. "Skill, syndication, and performance: Evidence from leveraged buyouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Tykvová, Tereza & Borell, Mariela, 2012. "Do private equity owners increase risk of financial distress and bankruptcy?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 138-150.
    19. Mittoo, Usha & Ng, Dennis & Yan, Meng, 2020. "Managerial ownership, credit market conditions, undervaluation and offer premiums in management (MBOs) and leveraged buyouts (LBOs)," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Kim, Tae-Nyun & Palia, Darius, 2014. "Private equity alliances in mergers," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 10-20.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Leveraged buyouts; Private equity; Reputation; Debt-equity conflicts; Club deals;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:117:y:2015:i:3:p:607-627. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505576 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.