Why Do Companies Stay Private? Determinants for IPO Candidates to Consider in Poland and the Czech Republic

We surveyed sixty-five chief financial officers (CFOs) at nonpublic and nonfinancial companies in the Czech Republic and Poland that are considered candidates for an initial public offering (IPO) to document their propensity to decline to launch an IPO and maintain private ownership. First, we found that the main arguments against launching an IPO in both countries involve information disclosure and limitations on decision-making control. Surprisingly, the majority of the managers do not see the capital market as a source of cheaper and more flexible financing compared to bank loans and other sources. In terms of exogenous factors, Polish CFOs are opportunistic with regard to the timing of an IPO. They view “the window of opportunity” in terms of overall business and industry conditions as significantly more important than do their Czech counterparts. Czech CFOs rank IPOrelated demands on time and costs as the main obstacle to going public. Finally, Czech CFOs agree that a lack of confidence in the capital market is their major concern more frequently than do their Polish peers.