This paper examines the shareholder wealth effects associated with global equity offerings made by foreign firms after their initial cross-listing in the United States. We document that the market reaction to seasoned global equity offerings is economically and statistically insignificant. However, it is 1.5% larger than the market reaction to offerings made on local exchanges only. In addition, we find that the adverse market reaction to local equity offerings is mitigated as more capital is raised globally. Our findings support the hypothesis that global capital raising is associated with significant benefits.

This paper investigates the valuation effects of corporate international diversification by examining cross-border mergers and acquisitions of US acquirers over the period 1990–2000. We find that, on average, acquisitions of “fairly valued” foreign business units do not lead to value discounts. In contrast, unrelated cross-border acquisitions result in a significant diversification discount of about 24% after accounting for the valuation of foreign targets. Furthermore, significant wealth gains accrue to foreign target shareholders regardless of the type of acquisition. Overall, our results suggest that international diversification does not destroy value while industrial diversification leads to discounts even after controlling for the pre-acquisition value of the target.