Chapter 10.3 Flashcards
Initial Public Offering (100 cards)
If a business is very successful, what will it outgrow at some point?
The ability of private sources of equity, such as family and friends and venture capitalists, to fund its growth
What activities is additional money needed by a business once it outgrows the ability of private sources of equity to fund its growth?
- Investments in plat and equipment
- Working capital
- Research and development (R&D)
What is one way to raise larger sums of cash/facilitate the exit of a venture capitalist?
Through an initial public offering, or IPO, of the company’s common stock
What is an IPO?
A company’s first sale of common stock in the public market
Why are first-time stock issues given a special name?
Because the marketing and pricing of these issues are distinctly different from those of seasoned offerings: they’re publicly traded securities
What is a publicly traded security?
Term public offering means that the securities being sold are registered w/ the Securities and Exchange Commission and, thus, can legally be sold to the public
What kind of securities can only be sold to the public?
Registered securities
Alternatively to being sold publicly, what other ways can securities be sold?
Directly to institutional investors in the private market
Rather than the sale of the business to a strategic/financial buyer, why may the entrepreneur and the venture capitalist decide that an IPO is the appropriate way to achieve their goals?
When large sums of capital are necessary to fund a business or when the entrepreneur or venture capitalists are ready to sell some or all of their investment in a business
What does the decision to go public depend on?
An assessment of whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages
What are the advantages of going public?
- Access to larger amounts of equity capital
- Ability to raise additional funds through follow-on offerings
- Fund growth without giving up full control
- Active secondary market for shares (liquidity and diversification)
- Exit opportunities for early investors (e.g., venture capitalists)
- Easier to attract and motivate top management with stock-based incentives
How is the amount of equity capital that can be raised in the public equity markets typically larger than the amount that can be raised through private sources
There are millions of investors in public stock markets, and it is easier for firms to reach these investors through public markets.
After a firm has completed an IPO, how can additional equity capital usually be raised through follow-on seasoned public offerings at a low cost?
The public markets are highly liquid and investors are willing to pay higher prices for more liquid shares of public firms than for the relatively illiquid shares of private firms
How can going public enable an entrepreneur to fund a growing business w/o giving up control?
Entrepreneur doesn’t have to sell the entire business but only what’s needed to raise the necessary fumds
What is the benefit of there being an active secondary market in which stockholders can buy and sell its shares, once it has gone public?
Enables the entrepreneur and other managers to more easily diversify their personal portfolios or to just sell shares in order to enjoy some of the rewards of having built a successful business
What is particularly advantageous to venture capitalists about a company going public?
Provides a way for venture capitalists to sell their shares
How does a company having an active market for a firm’s shares (going public) make it easier for the firm to attract top management talent and to better motivate current managers?
Senior managers generally own equity in the firm, and some part of their compensation is tied to the firm’s stock performance
How does equity ownership align management behaviour with the objective of maximizing stockholder value?
When senior managers own equity and their compensation depends on stock performance, they are motivated to maximize stockholder value.
Why is stock-based compensation easier in public companies than it is in private ones?
Public: easy to offer incentives tied to stock performance bc market info about the value of a share of stock is readily available
Private: market transactions are infrequent, and thus the market value of a firm’s equity must be estimated
What are the disadvantages of going public?
- High cost of the IPO
- Lower initial stock price
- Ongoing SEC compliance costs
- Loss of confidentiality
- Short-term market pressure
How does going public have a high cost of the IPO/lower initial stock price?
Cost partly due to stock not being seasoned. The likely liquidity of a stock that’s sold in an IPO is less well known than for a seasoned one, and its value is more uncertain. Because of this, investors less comfy buying stock sold in IPO and thus will not pay as high price for it as for similar seasoned stock.
Out-of-pocket costs adding on to cost of IPO: legal fees, accounting expenses, printing costs, travel expenses, SEC filing fees, consultant fees, and taxes can add
What is a seasoned stock?
A seasoned stock, which is traded in a public secondary market, has an established record which investors can observe how many shares trade on regular basis (measure of the liquidity for the shares) and the prices at which the trades take place.
How does going public have ongoing costs of complying with SEC disclosure requirements?
Once firm goes public, must meet lots of filing and other requirements imposed by SEC. For larger firms, these regulatory costs aren’t that important bc they represent relatively small fraction of total equity value. But for small firms costs can be significant
How can the transparency that results from complying with SEC requirements be costly for some firms?
Requirement that firms provide public w/ detailed financial statements, detailed info on executive compensation, info about firm’s strategic initiatives, + more can put firm at competitive disadvantage relative to private firms that aren’t required to disclose such info