Chen and Mohan (2002) argue that gross spread and underpricing are jointly
determined, and that gross spread conveys information about the quality of IPOs.
Chen and Ritter (2000) present the clustering of gross spreads at 7% for industrial
IPOs, favoring a strategic pricing explanation for the pattern. They do not find a significant trade-off between gross spreads and initial returns due to the clustering
of gross spreads at 7.0%. However, Hansen (2001) is inclined to support the efficient
contract theory that states that the 7% contract is the efficient outcome of competition
among underwriters. Although some evidence and arguments have been provided for
the clustering phenomenon that exists for industrial IPO firms, little is known about
REIT IPOs. In addition, the development of the underwriting process for REIT IPOs
has received little attention or discussion. The study of REIT IPOs provides an
opportunity to examine the learning process of underwriters and the evolution of
gross spreads.
Similar to findings in previous studies, we find a reversal of overpricing to
underpricing for REIT IPOs. Consequently, we conjecture that gross spreads in this
market may behave differently from what has been found for industrial firms. With
new financial products introduced to the market, investment banks need time to
adjust their valuation process and risk assessment technology. Thus, the gross
spread and the underpricing level of a new investment vehicle will vary and adjust
to the equilibrium over time.
Integer offer prices at either $10 or $20 were common for REIT IPOs in the
1980s. There are two potential explanations in the literature for integer offer prices.
Hanley, Lee, and Seguin (1996) suggest that closed-end fund IPOs are marketed to
less-informed individual investors, which is evidence consistent with the marketing
hypothesis. They find that underwriting fees for closed-end fund IPOs typically
range from 6 to 8%, and offer prices usually cluster at either $10 or $12.
Alternatively, Bradley, Cooney, Jordan, and Singh (2004) argue that the issuer and
the underwriter negotiate from a set of rounded prices when the expected offer price
is high and the degree of valuation uncertainty is large. Therefore, with greater
uncertainty, the extent of underpricing for integer IPOs should be higher than that of
fractional IPOs. They provide evidence consistent with the negotiation hypothesis
and find that integer IPOs associate with a higher degree of underpricing.