The venture capital certification role in initial public offerings

Abstract

Using high frequency Euronext Paris data, the paper examines the market microstructure trading characteristics of venture backed initial public offerings (IPOs) in the French market. Previous North American market studies approve the role played by venture capital (VC) firms for the certification of IPOs and their role in reducing the asymmetric information between investors. The study sample is composed of IPOs realized during the period 2000– 2013 both with and without VC firm involvement. The results present no significant price difference between both IPO types. The cost of asymmetric information and of price volatility is higher for the VC-backed operations. Moreover, the study shows that underpricing is positively correlated to the cost of the information asymmetry. Contrary to previous studies, the results show that the effects of VC firm certification and monitoring are not perceived by IPO investors in the French market.