Impact of financing method on J-REIT unit price around seasoned equity offerings: Dilution and borrowing ratio effects on abnormal returns

This study attempts to identify the determinants of changes in real estate investment trust (REIT) unit prices at the time of seasoned equity offering (SEO) in the Japanese financial market. As Japanese REIT (J-REIT) announces SEOs, dividends, and borrowings at the same time, this analysis can consider each factor simultaneously. This study uses the event study method to conduct an ordinary least squares multivariate regression analysis (regression analysis) of the average cumulative abnormal return for 11 days during SEOs in J-REIT. We add the change in a borrowing ratio before and after an SEO and the dilution ratio of investment units from the perspective of the financing method as new candidate factors not used in previous studies. The sample period is from 2013 to 2017, and the number of the analyzed SEOs is 150. This study simultaneously analyzes the impact of the changes in dividends, the changes in borrowing ratios, and the dilution ratios on J-REIT unit prices at the time of SEOs and clarifies each impact. This study showed that investors were aware of the importance of the dilution impact from the perspective of net asset value as well as the dividend as profitability. Unlike previous studies, we also showed that the increase in the borrowing ratio negatively affected the unit price. • A change in the dividend forecast at the time of a seasoned equity offering (SEO) affects the REIT unit price. • The extent of unit dilution due to the SEO has a negative impact on the unit price. • An increase in the borrowing ratio after the SEO negatively affects the unit price. • These effects are observed even when the period of unit price fluctuations is adjusted.