Bronwyn H. Hall
August 1992
A Guide to the Compustat Merger List (PUBEXIT.DAT)
The file PUBEXIT.DAT is an ASCII file containing the results of my
investigations into the whereabouts of every firm which disappeared from
the Compustat Annual Industrial and OTC Files between 1976 and 1991.
This
file has been corrected and updated from the August 1988 (thesis) edition
and exits in 1986 and 1987 have been added. In addition, a few 1988
acquisitions which were obtained from Kevin Hassett have been added. As
of
July 1992, the exits from 1988 to 1991 have also been added. The
order of the variables in this list of approximately 1600 exits is the
following:
1. The six-digit CUSIP of the firm which exited.
2. The name of the firm which exited.
3. The year in which the actual acquisition, bankruptcy,
liquidation, or name change took place. This is not necessarily the
year in which the firm exited from the file; frequently it is later.
There will be exits up until 92, since data may disappear much earlier
from Compustat (and my sample is all firms which do not have data in
91 and possibly earlier years).
4. A code telling why the firm exited from the file:
M
P
firm).
PL
F
B
L
R
NC
The firm was acquired by another publicly traded firm.
The firm went private (or was purchased by a privately held
The firm went private in a leveraged buyout.
The firm was acquired by a foreign entity.
The firm went bankrupt (no real distinction between Chapter 7
and Chapter 11 in my data, except in the acquirer name field).
The firm was liquidated.
The firm underwent reorganization and may have later reappeared.
(This includes some bankruptcies).
The firm changed its name (and hence its CUSIP). The new name
and CUSIP are shown as the acquiring firm.
NO
After much investigation, no reason for exit was found and the
D
is still in existence.
The firm is still in existence and still (at least to a certain
extent) publicly traded, but it has been delisted from an
firm
exchange
and Compustat no longer carries its data.
5. The CUSIP of the acquiring or liquidating firm, or new firm if a
name changer or recapitalizer.
6. The name of the acquiring, liquidating, or reorganizing firm.
Lower case entries provide other information about the exit (or give
generic purchasers, such as "employees").