The role of Venture Capital in the underpricing of European life science companies

This study evaluates the underpricing of the European companies operating in the life science industries at IPO. Results show a positive and high underpricing for the IPOs occurred between 2002 and 2007. Moreover, when differentiating between VC backed and non VC backed firms, we find that the first exhibit a lower underpricing both for the first day of trading and the first week after the IPO, and evidence support the idea of a positive contribution of venture capitalists to the performance of the listing firms. Moreover, VC backed firms appear less risky, registering a lower volatility of returns in the days following the IPO date.