An initial public offering (IPO) - the occasion when a firm's shares are issued to the public for the first time - is one of the most exciting events in the life of a company, providing new opportunities for the business, its managers and for investors. IPOs attract a lot of attention from stock market researchers, academics and investors seeking to understand more about how they work and how the shares of IPO companies perform once they are listed. In this second edition of Initial Public Offerings, Arif Khurshed delves into the history of IPOs on the London Stock Exchange, explains the mechanics of how IPOs are arranged and how they are priced, and provides an analysis - with detailed but lucid reference to past academic studies - of how the shares of IPO companies perform in the short and long term. The book provides valuable insight into many fundamental IPO matters, including: - the different methods of flotation that are used - the alternative ways in which IPO shares are priced - how common it is for IPO shares to over or underperform - the survival of IPO firms once they are listed. There are also detailed case studies of the short- and long-run performance of a number of high-profile IPOs, including those of Facebook, Alibaba and Royal Mail. If you are an academic, finance professional or serious investor looking to broaden your knowledge of stock market flotations then you will find Initial Public Offerings to be an indispensable guide.