Steps to doing a Mini-IPO
Each company's situation is different so there will be some
variation in the steps, but this will outline what the basic steps
are.
1. Company evaluated to determine if Mini-IPO is correct
method to use and if company is in the correct condition to do
one.
2. If your company is eligible to do a Mini-IPO, the
process will be explained to you and fee schedule will be covered.
3. Company is given a list of items to be completed to
prepare for Mini-IPO filing. This may include bringing
financials up to date; preparing, polishing or revising the
company's business plan; changes to business structure; etc.
We have many professionals that are expert with all these items so
that you can get the help you need on anything that you need
assistance with.
4. When the first 3 steps are fully done, the paperwork
is prepared and filed for the Mini-IPO with the correct regulatory
body.
5. Follow-up is done until you are approved for your
initial offering. You may be asked for additional
documentation during this period or to make corrections to
documentation you had provided. 6. How stock is
distributed in the initial offering of the Mini-IPO is arranged
with you following the laws and guidelines governing
this. 7. Initial offering is handled by us
until it is completed and then the appropriate forms are filed to
prepare for full trading status. 8. Forms and
documentation are prepared by us and filed with the SEC
(Securities and Exchange Commission). 9. We coordinate
with you to provide any additional information or documentation
requested by the SEC. 10. If the SEC acknowledges your
registration filing as acceptable, we then coordinate with the market maker who files the
necessary paperwork with the NASD to get you listed on the pink
sheet or bulletin board market. 11. Once you've been
approved for trading by the NASD, your stock is now trading on the
open market. 12. If you wish, at this point, we can assist
with arranging meetings with capital investors to get you the
financing you need to accomplish what you set forth in your
business plan.
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Benefits of a Mini-IPO
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The cost are
significantly less for doing a Mini-IPO. There are
accounting and legal costs for both the Mini-IPO and regular
IPO but with the Mini-IPO these costs are usually quite a bit
less. In addition, the underwriting costs for doing a
Mini-IPO usually run 15-25% of what a regular IPO's
underwriting expenses can be.
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The time to
complete a Mini-IPO is usually much less than for doing a
regular IPO. A regular IPO may take over a year to
complete while a Mini-IPO can often be completed within 4-6
months.
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You will have
more control of your company with a Mini-IPO. When
you move from being a private corporation to a public
corporation the ownership will become diluted, which
means the ownership is spread out more amongst more
people. This 'dilutes' both the total amount of the
value of stock you own as well as your voting rights on
corporate matters. The dilution with a regular IPO can
be 5-10 times that of a Mini-IPO due to both the way the
offering is structured and the percentage of shares to the
underwriters for their service. So in a Mini-IPO, you
can retain a higher percentage of shares and control.
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Requirements for
filing a Mini-IPO are signficantly less than for a regular IPO.
To do a regular IPO, you would normally need to be a
well-established company with a strong growth in sales and
income. But doing a Mini-IPO does not have requirements
on past performance. So if you want to go public for
estate planning, providing liquidity to its owners or
investors or to reward or retain employees, the Mini-IPO
provides a method that both large, established companies and
smaller, newer companies can use.
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A publicly
traded company can get funding from investors more easily than
a private company. Once a company is publicly traded
it can seek out private funding, something that Devon
Financial Group also assists with, and is more likely to
interest investors who look for opportunities with more
security. The Mini-IPO gives companies the ability
to seek private funding as a public company in cases where the
company wouldn't qualify to do a regular IPO or where the time
and/or expense would be prohibitive.
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Reporting
requirements may be less. In a Mini-IPO your stock
will trade either on the Pink Sheets or Bulletin Boards rather
than on the major exchanges, although over time your company
move grow to an extent where you can move up to the major
exchanges. But if you start out trading on the Pink
Sheets, you will not be required to file quarterly and annual
reports with the SEC and so your costs for accounting will be
less and you will avoid the costs involved with having the
quarterly and annual reports prepared.
If you have any more
questions about the Mini-IPO process or benefits, you can either
read through our Frequently Asked Questions
page or Contact Us.
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