Leveraged Public to Private Transactions in the UK

This paper examines the magnitude and the sources of the expected shareholder gains in UK public to private transactions (PTPs) in the second wave from 1997-2003. Pre-transaction shareholders on average receive a premium of 40% and the share price reaction to the PTP announcement is about 30%. The main sources of the shareholder wealth gains are undervaluation of the pre-transaction target firm, increased interest tax shields and incentive realignment. An expected reduction of free cash flows does not determine the premiums nor are PTPs a defensive reaction against a takeover.