We study the sale of operating assets when the seller retains a financial stake and privately observes how valuable the asset will be under different buyers, developing a first-price scoring auction in which allocation depends on both bids and buyer suitability. Seller discretion in allocating the asset creates two opposing bidding incentives: downward bid shading and a novel "winner's blessing,'" under which winning reveals favorable...

We present a model in which informed experts intermediate in the market for going public by acquiring private firms and reselling their shares to public investors. Because information incorporated by the public market generates resale pricing risk for experts, the acquisition prices they pay act as credible signals of firm value. Accordingly, intermediated sales provide a superior alternative for firms that expect to be undervalued...