Accounting information and the valuation of Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEOs)

This study investigates the association between publicly available information disclosed in the SEO prospectus and offer prices of SEOs, as well as the association between this type of publicly available information and stock returns subsequent to an SEO after controlling for self-selection bias. The empirical evidence shows that disclosure of the planned uses of the SEO proceeds reveals value-relevant information which has been incorporated by the underwriters in setting the offer prices. Control for self-selection bias appears necessary to obtain unbiased estimates in the regression model explaining the determinants of offer price in SEOs.