The Information Content of Private Debt Placements
上市公司发行非银行私人债务时股价平均上涨，但长期回报低于基准，表明公司会在业绩下滑前发行私人债务并披露过度乐观信息，贷款人拥有私有信息并采取保护措施，未给股权投资者带来认证和监控收益。
Abstract: Private placements of straight nonbank debt by publicly traded firms elicit a positive stock price reaction on average, consistent with a market perception that they confer significant certification and monitoring benefits on borrowers. However, long‐run stock returns following the debt issues are significantly lower than benchmarks. Our results are consistent with the view that firms issue private debt prior to a decline in operating performance, and they disclose overly optimistic information in the pre‐issue period which prevents information on the upcoming downturn from reaching the market in a timely manner. Lenders have private information on the post‐issue performance decline prior to their lending decision, and take steps to protect their investment which do not benefit equity investors. Our results are inconsistent with certification and monitoring benefits accruing to equity investors from private nonbank debt.