As a result of increased information production and aggregation, acquiring companies may make merger decisions based on valuable information they extract from public markets. This paper examines acquisition decisions, and suggests a novel source of information for industry firms – the IPO market. The results provide evidence that industry IPOs signal the existence of available investment opportunities, in particular about privately-held firms. The proportion of private target acquisitions, stock payments, and acquirer announcement returns significantly correlates with signals derived from industry IPOs. Our results suggest that industry IPOs generate positive externalities by facilitating more efficient acquisition decisions.

We examine the role of IPOs as a source of financing by comparing firms from countries with different degrees of stock market development. Focusing on acquisition investments, our results suggest that firms operating in economies with a more developed stock market extract more benefits from the financing role of IPOs than firms from countries with a less developed stock market. Controlling for the importance of bank financing does not alter our main findings. IPO firms from market-focused countries also experience a relatively larger increase in size and in profitability in the post-IPO period. Our results indicate that the purpose of IPO financing varies with the financial system in general and with the degree of stock market development in particular.