Abstract:We document that prospectus disclosure of (i) the motives for a seasoned equity offering and (ii) the choice of the underwriter explain the long-run performance of equity issuers in the UK. Firms citing investment needs show no abnormal performance after the offering and have higher investment rates post-issue compared to the period before the offering. Issuers that state general corporate purposes and recapitalisation motives underperform, have similar investment rates pre-and post-issue, and their leverage tends to increase after the offering.Further, consistent with the certifying role of underwriters, equity issues underwritten by highquality brokers show no evidence of post-issue abnormal returns, but offerings taken public by low-quality underwriters exhibit negative abnormal performance. Together, our results document a significant role prospectus information on the intended use of offering proceeds and on the underwriter play in predicting issuers post-offering performance in the UK.