Privatization transaction announcements increased 30 percent following the August 2002 enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to November 2003, in comparison to the 16-month period preceding the Act’s initiation from April 2001 to July 2002, according to Grant Thornton LLP.
What’s more, since the introduction of the landmark legislation, the median size of announced going private transactions has nearly halved — from $81 million to $39 million — and the number of proposed buyouts involving the management team as the method chosen to go private has increased about 80 percent.
