Valerio Pesic

Voluntary Delisting? A Valid Option for Firms Restructuring

Analysing a comprehensive dataset of European going private deals during the period 1998-2007, we explore the post-transaction operating performance of companies gone private and potential variables that can explain this choice. We find these firms’ situations improved slightly before going private, even if the most relevant and significant benefits on operating performance appear in the short and medium term. We show that the presence of a private equity provider appears to positively affect long-term performance, especially when the target company is large and needs to embark on a complex restructuring process. We further analyse restructuring, providing some evidence that, for companies with complex turnaround plans, going private is a valid option for implementing their strategies more effectively away from the public eye. In particular, we also show that this is particularly relevant for smaller public firms that cannot afford to undertake such a process without the whole support of the market. Finally, we do not find any evidence that size is, per se, a factor that has any structural impact on post-deal performance.

Regulatory Arbitrage in EU Banking: Do Business Models Matter?

This paper has three main aims. First, by applying the Ayadi et al. (2016) approach, we provide fresh evidence of different levels of bank risk (measured by the distance to default), considering the possible specificities across business models of European banking. Second, we try to explain those differences via the adoption of IRB and RWA dispersion, which raises the suspicion of regulatory arbitrage to a different extent across bank business models. Third, we explore whether, and to what extent, the degree of regulatory arbitrage varies across bank business models. Our findings show that one of the five business models identified by Ayadi et al. (2016) is deviant. This is the case for the banks classified as Diversified Retail type 2 which seem to be mutants and systematically engage in regulatory arbitrage. Our conclusion is that bank business models matter in risk assessment and regulation.

Financial Constraints to Italian SME Growth: A Proposed Solution through VC and PE Financing

The last few decades have seen increased emphasis on the dynamism of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to accelerate economies. This has been accompanied by a greater focus on creating financial markets that efficiently meet the needs of these businesses. These trends are of particular interest in Italy, whose economy has traditionally depended on the wealth produced by its industrial districts.