Foreign and Domestic Divestments: Evidence on Valuation Effects of Plant Closings

This study examines the valuation consequences of domestic and foreign divestments by comparing the stock price reaction to announcements of domestic plant closings and foreign plant closings. A domestic plant closing could indicate firm-wide problems and impending firm deterioration. A foreign plant may serve to exploit arbitrage opportunities specific to that plant location. Closing a foreign plant need not signify firm-wide problems. Our comparison of stated reasons for closings supports these propositions. Therefore, foreign plant closing announcements should produce a smaller stock price decline that domestic plant closing announcements. Empirical results indicate a significant negative stock price reaction for domestic plant closings and an insignificant negative stock price reaction for foreign plant closings. Differences in stock price reaction remain after controlling for firm-specific factors.© 1992 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1992) 23, 203–223

Further Evidence on Insider Selling Prior to Seasoned Equity Offering Announcements: The Role of Growth Opportunities

Previous research documents significant abnormal net selling by insiders prior to seasoned equity offering announcements. This study documents that the abnormal net selling is significantly greater for growth firms than for mature firms. It also shows that growth firms experience poorer post-issue long-term price performance, which suggests greater overpricing for growth firms. Further analysis shows that greater insider selling prior to the offering announcement is associated with a greater price run-up prior to the announcement and is not associated with a more negative market reaction to the announcement. Overall, the results suggest that investors may be overly optimistic about future prospects of growth firms. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1999.