Changes

abstract={: This paper investigates whether firms, which are taken over on the Frenchmarket through Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), possess characteristics prior to thechange which differentiate them from firms which are not acquired through LBOs.Contrasting 175 LBO targets on the French market with an industry-matchedcomparison group, we first run univariate analysis and then multivariate analysis(logit regression). Beyond the underscoring of the LBO targets‟ financial features, weconclude that subdividing our sample according to the vendor and bidder type isbeneficial. We thus notice that the so-called outperformance of LBO targets prior tothe deal hides in fact different cases.}

Confirms LBO targets are less indebted and possess relatively more liquid assets than their industry counterparts. Contrary to former findings, LBO's business risk also seems to be higher than for non-LBO firms prior to the deal. Also corroborates or disagrees with or rejects some dozen other hypotheses about the characteristics of LBO target firms.