Life after Listing: A Financial Performance Comparison of Secondary Buyout, Primary Buyout, and Non-PE IPOs

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines whether prior private equity ownership is associated with distinct post-IPO trajectories in revenue growth, EBITDA margin, and leverage among 5,413 US listings between 1990 and 2021: 400 primary buyouts (PBO), 71 secondary buyouts (SBO), and 4,942 non-PE-backed issuers. Pooled OLS regressions are estimated over a three-year post-IPO window. The analysis combines a primary within-PE study of SBO against PBO issuers with a secondary study of each PE group against a non-PE benchmark, using a propensity-trimmed comparable subset, and year-by-year cross-sections. The results describe a dimension-specific maturity gradient rather than a uniform PE imprint: SBOs grow revenue slightly slower than PBOs conditional on controls, and both PE groups grow significantly slower and carry persistently higher debt-to-assets ratios than non-PE peers, with the SBO discount roughly twice the PBO discount. EBITDA margin levels and growth show no within-PE differentiation, and the apparent PE margin premium against the non-PE benchmark reverses or disappears once loss-making firm-years are excluded.