This thesis empirically investigates the motive for and the timing of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the UK. Due to an apparent lack of research, the two questions as to why firms choose to go public and how they time their IPOs are left under-addressed in the existing IPO literature. Answers to these questions are critical to understand IPO activities and the extent to which firms can make efficient use of the stock market. The empirical studies in this thesis were based on a large and unique sample of 183 UK IPOs that floated on the London Stock Exchange during 1998–2003 and a control group of 2135 UK firms that remained private during 1996–2007.