Many firms deploy takeover defenses when they go public. We find that IPO managers are more likely to deploy defenses when their compensation is high, shareholdings are small, and oversight from non-managerial shareholders is weak. The presence of a takeover defense at the time of the IPO is...

Many firms deploy takeover defenses when they go public. IPO managers tend to deploy defenses when their compensation is high, shareholdings are small, and oversight from nonmanagerial shareholders is weak. The presence of a defense is negatively related to subsequent acquisition likelihood, yet...