The Role of Admission Documents on the Pricing of UK Fixed Priced IPOs

Using text sentiment analysis, we investigate the impact of the length of prospectuses on IPO pricing for a sample of UK Fixed Priced IPOs between 2004 and 2012 and show more information in the prospectus improves price accuracy as longer admission documents exhibit higher offer price and less underpricing. We explain the effect on the offer price as the consequence of the “pilot fishing” stage which seems to characterize a lot of UK IPOs

Collective vs Individual Sale of TV Rights in League Sports

In many countries, the collective sale of TV rights by sports leagues has been challenged by the antitrust authorities.In several cases, however, leagues won in court, on the ground that sport cannot be considered a standard good.In this paper, we investigate the conditions under which the sale of TV rights collectively by sports leagues, rather than individually by teams, is preferred from a social welfare viewpoint.We find that collective sale is socially preferable when leagues are small, relatively homogeneous in terms of clout and where teams get little performance-related revenues.broadcasting industry;sport;broadcasting rights

Competition and the Dynamics of Takeover Contests

This paper investigates the effect of potential competition on takeovers which we model as a bargaining game with alternating offers where calling an auction represents an outside option for each bidder at each stage of the game. The model describes a takeover process that is initiated by an unsolicited bidder, and it aims to answer three main questions: who wins the takeover and how? when? and how much is the takeover premium? Our results explain why the takeover premium resulting from a negotiated deal is not significantly different from that resulting from an auction, and why tender offers are rarely observed in reality. We also show that when the threat of the initial bidder to call a tender offer is not credible, the takeover process might end with a private auction organized by the target. Conversely, when the tender offer threat is credible, the takeover process ends with a deal negotiated bilaterally between the bidder and the target. The takeover premium always depends on the degree of potential competition, while it is affected by the target resistance only for weak initial bidders. Finally, the model allows us to draw conclusions on how other dimensions of the takeover process, such as termination fees, control benefits and tender offer costs, affect its dynamics and outcome

Size and Diversity in VC syndicates and their impact on IPO performance

This paper investigates the impact of venture capital (VC) syndicate size and composition on the IPO and post IPO performances of investee companies in an attempt to shed some light on the extent to which larger and more diverse syndicates are more likely to suffer from internal agency problems which might hinder the decision making process and lead to less value added for their portfolio companies. The question is of great relevance because, while the vast majority of the empirical literature compares VC backed IPOs with non VC backed ones, most VC funding is provided by syndicates of two or more financiers. We construct alternative measures of size as well as diversity based on several VC characteristics such as age, geographic location, type and affiliation of VC firms and find that larger and more diverse syndicates are associated with higher underpricing and lower valuation at the IPO date. Furthermore we provide evidence that that diversity and size are negatively correlated to the long term performance of the IPO firms and this finding is robust to several alternative measures of long term performance

White Knights and the Corporate Governance of Hostile Takeovers

We analyze the dynamics of takeover contests where hostile raiders compete against white knights involved by a lead blockholder of the target firm (the incumbent). We assume that the incumbent has the power to bargain with the potential bidders to set a minimum takeover price. We characterize the conditions under which a white knight wins the takeover contest despite the smaller value of its synergies as compared to those of the hostile bidder. The paper provides a new explanation for the reason why we observe so few hostile takeovers in reality; moreover, it sheds some light on the effectiveness of white knights as an anti-takeover device and the role played by leading minority blockholders in the market for corporate control. ∗We would like to thank Vasso Ioannidou, Maria Fabiana Penas and Paul Sengmueller for their useful comments, as well as the seminar participants at the University of Groningen and the University of Tilburg

Collective vs Individual Sale of TV Rights in League Sports

In many countries, the collective sale of TV rights by sports leagues has been challenged by the antitrust authorities.In several cases, however, leagues won in court, on the ground that sport cannot be considered a standard good.In this paper, we investigate the conditions under which the sale of TV rights collectively by sports leagues, rather than individually by teams, is preferred from a social welfare viewpoint.We find that collective sale is socially preferable when leagues are small, relatively homogeneous in terms of clout and where teams get little performance-related revenues.

Chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from flowers, leaves and aerial parts of Tunisian Dittrichia Viscosa

The objective of this work was to determine the chemical composition, the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the essential oils (EOs) extracted by hydrodistillation from different organs of the D. viscosa: flowers, leaves and aerial parts. The main compounds identified by GC/MS are oxygenated sesquiterpenes. Among these compounds, (E)-nerolidol (40.7%) is the most abundant constituent of flowers’ essential oil while caryophyllene oxide (9.9%), isolongifolan-7-α-ol (10.3%) and α -eudesmol (9.1%) are the major constituents of the leaves’ essential oil. The presence of these compounds in the aerial parts’ essential oil is solely due to those of the flowers and leaves that constitute these aerial parts. The volatile extracts showed antioxidant effects with IC50 values ranging between 9.25 and 9.75 mg.mL−1. On the other hand, EOs showed antibacterial effects on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The highest activity was obtained with flowers’ essential oil against Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli

Welcome on board: A note on gender quotas regulation in Europe

Using a diff-in-diff approach, we compare the impact on board and directors’ characteristics of mandatory vs advisory regulations on gender quotas in corporate boards. We focus on the experience of three European countries: France and Italy (mandatory regime) vs UK (advisory regime). Our results show that while the percentage of Women on Boards (WoB) generally increases after the introduction of the regulation, this effect is stronger in mandatory regimes. We also find that the quality of the board, measured by several indicators such as size, busyness, qualifications, independence, generally improves more in mandatory regimes. Finally, we also document that gender quotas have had no effect on the likelihood of appointing female executives and board chairwomen in either regime

What antarctic plants can tell us about climate changes: Temperature as a driver for metabolic reprogramming

Global warming is strongly affecting the maritime Antarctica climate and the consequent melting of perennial snow and ice covers resulted in increased colonization by plants. Colobanthus quitensis is a vascular plant highly adapted to the harsh environmental conditions of Antarctic Peninsula and understanding how the plant is responding to global warming is a new challenging target for modern cell physiology. To this aim, we performed differential proteomic analysis on C. quitensis plants grown in natural conditions compared to plants grown for one year inside open top chambers (OTCs) which determine an increase of about 4 °C at midday, mimicking the effect of global warming. A thorough analysis of the up and downregulated proteins highlighted an extensive metabolism reprogramming leading to enhanced photoprotection and oxidative stress control as well as reduced content of cell wall components. Overall, OTCs growth seems to be advantageous for C. quitensis plants which could benefit from a better CO2 diffusion into the mesophyll and a reduced ROS‐mediated photodamage

Validation of ash/dust detections from SEVIRI data using ACTRIS/EARLINET ground-based LIDAR measurements

Twotailored configurations of the Robust Satellite Technique (RST) multi-temporal approach, for airborne volcanic ash and desert dust detection, have been tested in the framework of the European Natural Airborne Disaster Information and Coordination System for Aviation (EUNADICS-AV) project. The two algorithms, running on Spinning Enhanced Visible Infra-Red Imager (SEVIRI) data, were previously assessed over wide areas by comparison with independent satellite-based aerosol products. In this study, we present results of a first validation analysis of the above mentioned satellite-based ash/dust products using independent, ground-based observations coming from the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET). The aim is to assess the capabilities of RST-based ash/dust products in providing useful information even at local scale and to verify their applicability as a "trigger" to timely activate EARLINET measurements during airborne hazards. The intense Saharan dust event of May 18-23 2008-which affected both the Mediterranean Basin and Continental Europe-and the strong explosive eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) volcano of April-May 2010, were analyzed as test cases. Our results show that both RST-based algorithms were capable of providing reliable information about the investigated phenomena at specific sites of interest, successfully detecting airborne ash/dust in different geographic regions using both nighttime and daytime SEVIRI data. However, the validation analysis also demonstrates that ash/dust layers remain undetected by satellite in the presence of overlying meteorological clouds and when they are tenuous (i.e., with an integrated backscatter coefficient less than ~0.001 sr-1 and with aerosol backscatter coefficient less than ~1 × 10-6 m-1sr-1). This preliminary analysis confirms that the continuity of satellite-based observations can be used to timely "trigger" ground-based LIDAR measurements in case of airborne hazard events. Finally, this work confirms that advanced satellite-based detection schemes may provide a relevant contribution to the monitoring of ash/dust phenomena and that the synergistic use of (satellite-based) large scale, continuous and timely records with (ground-based) accurate and quantitative measurements may represent an added value, especially in operational scenarios