Published: ‘Entrepreneur’s Guide: Startup, Scale Up, IPO‘, Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and National Australia Bank (NAB)
Dwight D. Eisenhower once said that plans are worthless, but planning is everything. The first step in your company’s initial public offering (IPO) is to plan for the journey.
Partner Li-Jean Chew, and former Partner Jeff Mansfield, were delighted to provide a chapter for the Entrepreneur’s Guide: Startup, Scale Up, IPO, recently published by the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and National Australia Bank (NAB). Below is a taste of the chapter, with a download link at the bottom.
Planning is everything
Early planning will help you in overcoming any twists and turns encountered during your company’s IPO journey and its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
The first question you need to ask is: is my company ready to list? Do I, the board of directors and the company’s major shareholders understand what a listing on the ASX entails and what areas I need to be aware of?
This chapter provides 5 practical tips and 7 practical traps to look our for, that will help you in planning your company’s IPO.
5 tips:
- Prepare your company to be a good IPO candidate
- Get the backing of an underwriter
- Get your company’s affairs in order
- Raise pre-IPO funding
- Bulk up your business
7 traps:
- Agreeing to purchase classified assets for cash
- Issuing performance shares with more than limited rights
- Issuing too many convertible securities
- Not considering all of the legal and tax implications when issuing shares or options to employees
- Not giving yourself enough time to convert to a public company
- Not considering the legal restrictions when marketing your IPO
- Not giving yourself enough time to obtain director background checks
The IPO journey is an exciting one for a company and the people involved, but it can also be a stressful time. To minimise this stress and potential disruption to your company’s business, keep in mind the above tips and traps, and start planning early!