Market reaction to “unsweetened” and “sweetened” rights offerings in an emerging European stock market

This research investigates the market reaction to both “unsweetened” (plain) and “sweetened” (with simultaneous distribution of bonus issues) rights offerings in the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Consistent with previous U.K. and U.S. evidence, although with larger magnitude, the announcement day abnormal returns for “unsweetened” rights offerings are negative and significant, suggesting that such issues convey unfavorable information about the future operating performance, investment opportunities, liquidity and dividend policy. In contrast, for “sweetened” rights offerings, the abnormal returns are positive. The empirical results do not provide evidence for the enhanced trading liquidity effect (the “sweetener” split effect) and for the overvaluation signaling effect.