Mark Mietzner

Intra-Industry Effects of Shareholder Activism in Germany - Is There a Difference between Hedge Fund and Private Equity Investments?

We investigate the valuation effects of industry rivals on german firms targeted by hedge funds and private equity investors. We argue that both types of investors differ from other blockholders due to their strong motivation and ability to actively engage and monitor. We find that the announcement of a change in ownership structure generates statistically significant short- and long-term intra-industry effects for rivals to the respective private equity and hedge fund targets. however, these effects differ markedly between hedge fund investments and private equity investments. We conclude that hedge funds are more aggressive than private equity investors in implementing a shareholder orientation.

Motive für große Personalabbaupläne, der Verlust von Humankapital und Börsenreaktionen ‒ Eine Analyse der globalen Luftfahrtindustrie

Die vorliegende Untersuchung legt ihren Fokus auf ein besonders kritisch diskutiertes Spannungsfeld zwischen Personalmanagement und den internationalen Kapitalmärkten. Mithilfe der Ereignisstudienmethodik werden die Auswirkungen von Entlassungsankündigungen auf den Vermögenswert von global agierenden Fluggesellschaften analysiert. Für den Zeitraum 2003 bis 2012 wurden 84 Entlassungsankündigungen von 22 Fluggesellschaften ausgewertet. Hierbei zeigt sich, dass eine Pauschalisierung der Kursreaktionen nicht möglich ist, sondern vielmehr die spezifischen Motive und die Ausgestaltung des Personalabbaus von Relevanz sind. Angekündigte Massenentlassungen steigern nicht per se immer, wie häufig unterstellt, sondern nur in einem spezifischen Kontext den Börsenwert der Arbeitgeber. Insbesondere wirken sich proaktive Maßnahmen, die im Rahmen einer Restrukturierung umgesetzt werden, positiv auf den Shareholder-Value aus.

Staatsfonds als Ankerinvestoren: Eine Note zum Einstieg von Aabar bei Daimler

Abstract The group of sovereign wealth funds (SWF) is gaining growing importance in the discussion on corporate governance quality as critical success factor for the longrun performance of exchange listed companies. These institutional investors mostly act as long-term oriented minority block holders (anchor investors) in international capital markets. We show for a specific case how capital market participants evaluate SWF investments in exchange listed companies. From the overall stock price reaction we can conjecture that investors expect from this investment of Aabar a positive impact on the corporate governance. However, there is also the alternative explanation that SWF have superior target selection abilities which allow them to detect undervalued companies in an inefficient capital market.

Information Signaling and Ownership Trasition - Value Effects of Share Issue Privatizations

Privatizations are commonly associated with an increase in efficiency due to a stronger focus on profit maximization and less agency conflicts because the management does not have to serve political objectives anymore. This paper discusses whether SIPs generate positive announcement returns because of increased efficiency after the ownership transition. We apply a market model event-study methodology based on a sample of 134 SIPs in the 1979-2003 period. We identify significantly negative CAARs between -0.125% and -1.766% and find that firm and offering size, the proportion of secondary shares issued within the SIP as well as the market environment have a negative impact on announcement returns. In contrast, the negative CAARs are less distinctive for enterprises that had prior SIPs.

Investment Behavior and Risk Dynamics: Evidence from Share Repurchases

We explore the distinguishing characteristics of firms that completed or stopped their repurchase programs. Our findings help further understanding the economic reasons why firms would stop buybacks. Based on our international sample of 818 completed and 101 stopped share repurchase programs shows a significant drop in systematic risk around completed buybacks. This suggests that completed buybacks are a response to deteriorating investment opportunities. In contrast, the systematic risk of incomplete-repurchasing firms decreases prior to the announcement, followed by an increase that peaks during the event period. This suggests that firms stop their repurchase intentions when growth options move into the money.

Hidden Champions or Black Sheep? Evidence from German Mini-Bonds

This paper presents a first empirical examination of all available German mini-bond offerings between 2010 and 2015. We compare the default probability according to a mini-bond’s initial rating with that implied by credit risk models, and show that rating agencies can create ratings inflation by issuing overly favorable ratings. This creates a “window of opportunity” for lower-quality firms to compete for funding. In this environment, high-quality firms have an incentive to use mini-bond underpricing to signal their quality. Our data highlight that, according to information-based corporate finance theory, higher underpricing is correlated with higher-quality mini-bond issuers and lower early default rates.