Private Equity Firms' Reputational Concerns and the Costs of Debt Financing

A popular view is that private equity (PE) firms tend to expropriate other stakeholders of their portfolio companies. Bonds offered during 1992-2011 by companies after their initial public offerings (IPOs) do not reflect this view. We find that yield spreads on bonds offered by PE-backed companies are, on average, 70 basis points lower, holding other things constant. We also find that PE-backed companies have more conservative investment and dividend policies after bond offerings compared with non-PE-backed companies. These results suggest that PE firms' reputational concerns dominate their wealth expropriation incentives and help their portfolio companies reduce the costs of debt.