作者
Ulf Axelson
SIFR and Stockholm School of Economics
Tim Jenkinson
Saïd Business School, Oxford University and CEPR
Per Strömberg
SIFR, Stockholm School of Economics, CEPR, and NBER
Michael S. Weisbach
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and NBER
Abstract
This paper provides an empirical analysis of the financial structure of large recent buyouts. We
collect detailed information of the financings of 153 large buyouts (averaging over $1 billion in
enterprise value). We document the manner in which these important transactions are financed.
Buyout leverage is cross-sectionally unrelated to the leverage of matched public firms, and is
largely driven by other factors than what explains leverage in public firms. In particular, the
economy-wide cost of borrowing seems to drive leverage. Prices paid in buyouts are related to
the prices observed for matched firms in the public market, but are also strongly affected by the
economy-wide cost of borrowing. These results are consistent with a view in which the
availability of financing impacts booms and busts in the private equity market.