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Preparing to go public<br />
2.1 Choosing advisors<br />
J.P. Morgan (Investment Banking)<br />
(a) Retention of advisors/service<br />
providers<br />
Going public involves assembling a large<br />
and experienced team of professionals,<br />
including lawyers for the company and<br />
the underwriters, independent auditors,<br />
underwriters, insurance brokers, financial<br />
printers and data room providers. The<br />
company should carefully consider the<br />
skills and qualifications of all parties it<br />
hires, given the importance of the advice<br />
and services they will provide throughout<br />
the process as well as the messages their<br />
involvement with the IPO will signal to<br />
other advisors and to the market. The key<br />
advisors and service providers that the<br />
company and board need to evaluate and<br />
hire are as follows.<br />
Company counsel: Company counsel work<br />
in concert with the company’s management<br />
team, including in particular the company’s<br />
chief financial officer (CFO) and general<br />
counsel, to represent the company’s legal<br />
interests throughout the process. They<br />
are integrally involved in carrying out due<br />
diligence investigations into the company,<br />
drafting the registration statement and<br />
advising the company in relation to the<br />
various legal agreements it will enter into<br />
in connection with the IPO process, such<br />
as lock-up and underwriting agreements,<br />
as well as generally providing legal advice<br />
to the company throughout the process.<br />
In selecting company counsel, it<br />
is important to choose a firm that has<br />
considerable expertise and a proven<br />
track record of executing IPOs as well as<br />
appropriate industry and sector expertise.<br />
At a more personal level, it is critical<br />
to select individual law firm partners<br />
with whom the management team has<br />
good rapport, as they will be spending<br />
a considerable amount of time together<br />
through the process.<br />
Independent auditors and consulting<br />
accountants: The independent accountants<br />
are involved in performing an audit and,<br />
where relevant, review of certain financial<br />
statements prepared by management and<br />
included in the registration statement,<br />
and in providing a “comfort letter” to the<br />
underwriters which, among other things,<br />
confirms the accuracy of certain financial<br />
numbers included in the registration<br />
statement. The underwriters and their<br />
counsel will conduct in-depth due<br />
diligence with the accounting firm around<br />
their relationship with the company, their<br />
independence under applicable rules and<br />
regulations, the integrity of the company’s<br />
financial statements and the processes<br />
and methodologies underpinning their<br />
preparation and audit.<br />
The decision to hire auditors is of<br />
critical importance, given that they will<br />
be integrally involved in the company’s<br />
financial reporting for many years. Auditors<br />
should be hired well in advance of preparing<br />
for the IPO so that the financial statements<br />
and related disclosures to be included in<br />
the registration statement are presented on<br />
a basis consistent with prior-year audits.<br />
The SEC requires three years of annual<br />
historical audited financials (two years in<br />
the case of emerging growth companies)<br />
and these would ideally have been audited<br />
by a single firm of auditors. Although a<br />
“Big 4” firm is typically recommended for<br />
companies that are contemplating an IPO,<br />
there are a number of boutique and regional<br />
auditing firms that are also well regarded<br />
and talented. The company should consider<br />
industry expertise, reputation and fit with<br />
the company, among other factors, when<br />
selecting an auditing firm.<br />
In many cases the company requires<br />
assistance in designing enhanced<br />
accounting processes and controls,<br />
preparing financial statements and other<br />
information for audit and to supplement its<br />
staff during the IPO process and transition<br />
to becoming a public company. The auditor<br />
may be unable to perform some of these<br />
tasks due to independence requirements,<br />
so a separate accounting consultant may be<br />
necessary. Accounting consultants provide<br />
useful skills, experience and resources to<br />
supplement the company’s accounting<br />
and controls functions in this time of<br />
transition, though the company should<br />
ensure that it does not become reliant on<br />
them beyond the IPO and has assembled an<br />
appropriate team of in-house experts.<br />
Underwriters: The underwriting syndicate<br />
consists of various banks, each having<br />
different roles and status within the<br />
syndicate. The lead banks are known as<br />
bookrunners and are so called because<br />
they literally run the order book for the<br />
offering once it is in its marketing phase.<br />
Many companies will choose more than<br />
one bookrunner, in which case one will be<br />
appointed the lead bookrunner, or “lead<br />
left” bookrunner (so called because its<br />
name is listed first on the top line in the<br />
prospectus). The company should carefully<br />
choose the lead bookrunner for the IPO<br />
because of the critical role that it plays<br />
throughout the process. As the quarterback<br />
of the IPO, the lead bookrunner advises<br />
the company on all aspects of the IPO<br />
process, assists the company in shaping<br />
its investment thesis to be used while<br />
marketing the transaction, guides the<br />
company in its dealings with investors<br />
during the roadshow and develops the<br />
optimal pricing recommendation for<br />
the IPO.<br />
The bookrunners as a group are closely<br />
involved in diligence, drafting the registration<br />
statement, crafting the marketing materials,<br />
creating the roadshow schedule, pricing the<br />
transaction and supporting the stock in the<br />
aftermarket. The bookrunners’ research<br />
analysts will also be involved in undertaking<br />
due diligence on the company and play an<br />
important role in providing an independent<br />
view on the company to investors during<br />
the roadshow. The bookrunners should be<br />
chosen based on their relationship with the<br />
company, industry expertise, expertise in<br />
executing IPOs, track records with issuers<br />
and investors, distribution platform, research<br />
analyst capabilities and market-making<br />
ability.<br />
Beneath the bookrunners sit a<br />
further group of underwriters, typically<br />
known as “Co-managers.” The Comanagers’<br />
investment banking teams are<br />
significantly less involved in the day-to-day<br />
advisory role for which the bookrunners are<br />
responsible. They are, however, involved<br />
in most (if not all) of the due diligence<br />
undertaken. The Co-managers’ research<br />
analysts will also take part in all analyst<br />
diligence that is conducted, and they will<br />
also play an active role in discussing their<br />
view of the company with investors while<br />
the roadshow is ongoing (although separate<br />
from the roadshow). The primary role of the<br />
Co-managers is to underwrite additional<br />
shares in the offering, provide additional<br />
research coverage post-IPO and assist in<br />
market making once the stock is public.<br />
Co-managers should be chosen based<br />
14 NYSE IPO Guide