IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/revfec/v44y2026i1ne70025.html

Private equity acquisitions and product market decisions: Evidence from trademarks

Author

Listed:
  • Moazzam Khoja

Abstract

The paper examines the impact of public‐to‐private Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs) on product market decisions using trademark data from 201 public LBOs and 3,628 non‐LBO firms. Findings show no significant change in trademark filings for product innovations post‐LBO but a notable 24%‐44% reduction in filings for existing products (marketing activities), reflecting strategic streamlining rather than random cost‐cutting. LBO firms retain focus on marketing activities classes, with increased concentration in related product clusters, emphasizing a targeted marketing strategy. Contrary to concerns about leveraged constraints stifling innovation, results indicate that managerial alignment and PE advisory roles maintain long‐term value creation without altering risk appetites.

Suggested Citation

  • Moazzam Khoja, 2026. "Private equity acquisitions and product market decisions: Evidence from trademarks," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:revfec:v:44:y:2026:i:1:n:e70025
    DOI: 10.1002/rfe.70025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/rfe.70025
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/rfe.70025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Acharya, Viral & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2017. "Financial dependence and innovation: The case of public versus private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 223-243.
    2. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    3. Mitchell, Mark L. & Mulherin, J. Harold, 1996. "The impact of industry shocks on takeover and restructuring activity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 193-229, June.
    4. Vikas A. Aggarwal & David H. Hsu, 2014. "Entrepreneurial Exits and Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(4), pages 867-887, April.
    5. Stuart J.H. Graham & Galen Hancock & Alan C. Marco & Amanda Fila Myers, 2013. "The USPTO Trademark Case Files Dataset: Descriptions, Lessons, and Insights," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 669-705, December.
    6. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Stromberg, 2009. "Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 121-146, Winter.
    7. Davidson Heath & Christopher Mace, 2020. "The Strategic Effects of Trademark Protection," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1848-1877.
    8. Cesare Fracassi & Alessandro Previtero & Albert W. Sheen, 2020. "Barbarians at the Store? Private Equity, Products, and Consumers," NBER Working Papers 27435, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Lichtenberg, Frank R. & Siegel, Donald, 1990. "The effects of leveraged buyouts on productivity and related aspects of firm behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 165-194, September.
    10. Opler, Tim & Titman, Sheridan, 1993. "The Determinants of Leveraged Buyout Activity: Free Cash Flow vs. Financial Distress Costs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(5), pages 1985-1999, December.
    11. Malenko, Andrey & Malenko, Nadya, 2015. "A theory of LBO activity based on repeated debt-equity conflicts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 607-627.
    12. Ofek, Eli, 1994. "Efficiency Gains in Unsuccessful Management Buyouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 637-654, June.
    13. Shai Bernstein & Albert Sheen, 2016. "The Operational Consequences of Private Equity Buyouts: Evidence from the Restaurant Industry," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(9), pages 2387-2418.
    14. Encaoua, David & Guellec, Dominique & Martinez, Catalina, 2006. "Patent systems for encouraging innovation: Lessons from economic analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1423-1440, November.
    15. Cronqvist, Henrik & Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2013. "CEO contract design: How do strong principals do it?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 659-674.
    16. Ron Adner & Daniel Levinthal, 2001. "Demand Heterogeneity and Technology Evolution: Implications for Product and Process Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(5), pages 611-628, May.
    17. Shourun Guo & Edith S. Hotchkiss & Weihong Song, 2011. "Do Buyouts (Still) Create Value?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 479-517, April.
    18. Praveen Kumar & Dongmei Li, 2016. "Capital Investment, Innovative Capacity, and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2059-2094, October.
    19. Manuel C. Kathan & Tereza Tykvová, 2024. "How do leveraged buyouts affect industry peers? Analysis of the information and the competition channels," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 55-78, January.
    20. B. Curtis Eaton & Richard G. Lipsey, 1975. "The Principle of Minimum Differentiation Reconsidered: Some New Developments in the Theory of Spatial Competition," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 42(1), pages 27-49.
    21. Shai Bernstein, 2015. "Does Going Public Affect Innovation?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 1365-1403, August.
    22. Agrawal, Ashwini & Tambe, Prasanna, 2016. "Private equity and workers’ career paths: the role of technological change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69476, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    23. Cohn, Jonathan B. & Mills, Lillian F. & Towery, Erin M., 2014. "The evolution of capital structure and operating performance after leveraged buyouts: Evidence from U.S. corporate tax returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 469-494.
    24. Ashwini Agrawal & Prasanna Tambe, 2016. "Private Equity and Workers’ Career Paths: The Role of Technological Change," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(9), pages 2455-2489.
    25. Kaplan, Steven, 1989. "The effects of management buyouts on operating performance and value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 217-254.
    26. Benjamin Hammer & Heiko Hinrichs & Denis Schweizer, 2022. "What is different about private equity‐backed acquirers?," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(2), pages 117-149, April.
    27. Davidson Heath & Christopher Mace, 2020. "The Strategic Effects of Trademark Protection," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 1848-1877.
    28. Andrea Fosfuri & Marco S. Giarratana, 2009. "Masters of War: Rivals' Product Innovation and New Advertising in Mature Product Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 181-191, February.
    29. Demiroglu, Cem & James, Christopher M., 2010. "The role of private equity group reputation in LBO financing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 306-330, May.
    30. Muscarella, Chris J & Vetsuypens, Michael R, 1990. "Efficiency and Organizational Structure: A Study of Reverse LBOs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1389-1413, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2017. "Leveraged Buyouts : A Survey of the Literature," Discussion Paper 2017-015, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    2. Dyaran Bansraj & Han Smit & Vadym Volosovych, 2020. "Can Private Equity Funds Act as Strategic Buyers? Evidence from Buy-and-Build Strategies," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-041/IV, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Chiarella, Carlo & Ostinelli, Diego, 2020. "Financial or strategic buyers: Who is at the gate?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 393-407.
    4. Sharjil M. Haque, 2023. "Does Private Equity Over-Lever Portfolio Companies?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-009, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Abhishek Bhardwaj & Abhinav Gupta & Sabrina T. Howell, 2025. "Leveraged Payouts: How Using New Debt to Pay Returns in Private Equity Affects Firms, Employees, Creditors, and Investors," Working Papers 25-12, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Stanfield, Jared, 2020. "Skill, syndication, and performance: Evidence from leveraged buyouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Steven J. Davis & John C. Haltiwanger & Kyle Handley & Ben Lipsius & Josh Lerner & Javier Miranda, 2021. "The economic effects of private equity buyouts," Jena Economics Research Papers 2021-013, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    8. Andrew Metrick & Ayako Yasuda, 2011. "Venture Capital and Other Private Equity: a Survey," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 619-654, September.
    9. Aurélien Philippot, 2025. "A Moral Evaluation of LBOs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 196(3), pages 695-709, January.
    10. Phalippou, Ludovic & Rauch, Christian & Umber, Marc, 2018. "Private equity portfolio company fees," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(3), pages 559-585.
    11. Cao, Kien & Coy, Jeffrey & Nguyen, Thuy, 2016. "The likelihood of management involvement, offer premiums, and target shareholder wealth effects: Evidence from the 2002–2007 LBO wave," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 641-655.
    12. Tereza Tykvová, 2018. "Venture capital and private equity financing: an overview of recent literature and an agenda for future research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 325-362, May.
    13. Sharjil M. Haque & Anya V. Kleymenova, 2023. "Private Equity and Debt Contract Enforcement: Evidence from Covenant Violations," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-018, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    14. João Pinto & Luís Pacheco & Paulo Alves & M. Ricardo Cunha, 2016. "How banks price loans in leveraged buy-outs: an empirical analysis of spreads determinants," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 04, Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
    15. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger & Kyle Handley & Ben Lipsius & Josh Lerner & Javier Miranda, 2025. "The (Heterogeneous) Economic Effects of Private Equity Buyouts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(11), pages 9569-9587, November.
    16. Troy D. Smith, 2015. "Private Equity Investment in India: Efficiency vs Expansion," Discussion Papers 15-011, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    17. Tåg, Joacim, 2010. "The Real Effects of Private Equity Buyouts," Working Paper Series 851, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    18. Sharjil M. Haque & Simon Mayer & Teng Wang, 2024. "How Private Equity Fuels Non-Bank Lending," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-015, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    19. Manuel C. Kathan, 2025. "How do leveraged buyouts affect industry peers' performance: Evidence from Europe," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 519-547, October.
    20. Olsson, Martin & Tåg, Joacim, 2018. "Are foreign private equity buyouts bad for workers?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1-4.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:revfec:v:44:y:2026:i:1:n:e70025. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1873-5924 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.