Public without an IPO – Strategies and Considerations by Marc R. Tow
I’ve received numerous inquiries and had many discussions regarding which way is the best way to become a public company. As the title to this latest article plainly suggests, there are indeed many considerations – more than can be covered in one article. This first article is a step though and will be followed by additional articles building on the information here.
Bucking the IPO System
When I first expanded my securities practice years ago to include reverse mergers and shell company transactions, I occasionally encountered skepticism from entrepreneurs and their lawyers from time to time regarding various alternative methods that allowed a company to become public without the traditional Initial Public Offering filing with the SEC (I’ll refer to these various methods and other going public strategies that don’t rely on an IPO as “IPO Alternatives”).
Even straightforward self-filings using an experienced securities attorney were considered out of the mainstream. This occasional skepticism and overly cautious view of IPO Alternatives was a result of several factors.
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