Timing of Seasoned Equity Offerings: A Duration Analysis

Using a sample of 6,198 US firms that went public from 1975-2004, this paper documents that firms often return for a new round of equity issuance shortly after the preceding one. First SEOs following the IPO are more likely to be conducted at a faster speed than subsequent (follow-on) SEOs. Duration analysis shows that recent stock returns and future growth opportunities are important determinants of the timing of SEOs. First SEOs differ from follow-on SEOs in two aspects: (1) Growth opportunities correlated with the overall economic growth are more important for follow-on SEOs than for first SEOs. (2) First SEOs are more driven by the incentive to time the stock market, whereas follow-on SEOs are more driven by growth needs.