What Is the Effect of Rights Issue on Firms Share Performance in the Nairobi Securities Exchange?

Abstract

Rights issues give existing shareholders the option of purchasing new shares, normally issued at a discount to the prevailing market price in order to encourage participation in the capital raised over purchasing shares in the market.  This study aimed to identify the effects of rights issue on the share performance of listed Kenyan-based companies on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The research was to evaluate the effects of rights issue on firms’ subsequent trading  prior to and after the issue.  All the firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange and were part of the NSE 20 share index were considered. In addition to this, all the firms that performed rights issue between 2007 and 2012 were included in the target population whether or not they were part of the NSE 20 share index.

Keywords: Rights issue, Nairobi Securities Exchange, Share Performance