Abstract:

The aim of the paper was to identify the reasons that led Polish companies to implement the IPO strategy, and to find out what importance issuer companies attributed to individual aspects that are considered disadvantages associated with the IPO. To meet that objective, a primary research using a questionnaire survey was conducted in companies that entered the main market of the Warsaw stock exchange between 2007 and 2009. It follows from the results of our research that the most important reasons for IPO strategy implementation given by respondents from issuer companies were to raise external equity, and the possibility to use publicly traded shares for later acquisitions and mergers. Other important reasons for IPO implementation include the increase in publicity and enhancement of the corporate image, increase in the company's attractiveness as an employer, and the determination of its market value. When deliberating about whether to use of IPO strategy or not, respondents were mostly concerned about time demands and the costs of the entire process. Many of the aspects that are oftentimes presented as IPO disadvantages did not significantly affect IPO implementation decisions in the companies surveyed. Neither the fear of a loss or a curtailment of the control over the company, of the broadening of the shareholders' structure, nor the fear of strategic information leaks and its abuse by competitors was supported by empirical findings.