Abstract
We investigate the effect of public market institutional investor (institution) ownership in startups on the exit of venture capitalists (VCs). We show that institutions' pre-IPO investments reduce IPO underpricing by mitigating VCs' reliance on all-star analysts in boosting market liquidity. We conclude that institutions facilitate secondary market exit of VCs. Supporting this view, an insider trading analysis reveals that the presence of institutions allows VCs to liquidate in the secondary market with reduced price impact. Consistent with the ease of exit, VCs offer fewer shares at the IPO stage and are more involved in the boards of the institution-backed startups.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2411-2447 |
Number of pages | 37 |
Journal | Review of Financial Studies |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 1 2021 |
Keywords
- G23
- G24
- L13