When you say no, what do you mean? – on negative personal interest in corporate voting
Our firm handles all areas related to working with listing of Israeli companies outside of Israel, including in the United States of America and Australia. We accompany corporations from the first stages of preparing for an IPO, through the listing and thereafter, commencing with the liaison with brokers, continuing with the relationship with investors, managing the entire IPO process, including drafting the IPO prospectus, and assisting companies with all issues of regulation and post-IPO activities.
With regards to the public market in Australia, the work is done, among others, by advocate Paul Stephenson. Paul is a senior Australian lawyer specializing in Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listings. He was a partner of Australian national law firm HWL Ebsworth for thirteen years prior to re-locating to Israel in 2018. Paul has extensive experience in initial public offerings (IPOs), reverse takeovers (RTOs), merges and acquisitions, cross-border transactions and Australian corporate law and corporate governance compliance adviced. Paul's clients include ASX listed public companies, unlisted private and public companies seeking to list on the ASX, investments banks and broking and corporate advisory firms. His experience in acting on various ASX listings has seen him advise companies in various industry sectors, including: financial services, information technology, telecommunications, mobile telephony, mining, oil and gas, pay television, retailing and financial markets. Paul has a LL.B. from the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He is not admitted to practice in Israel but is admitted to practice in Australia.
There are many measures of success for initial public offerings (IPOs). First and foremost is completing the deal and raising the intended proceeds. From the perspective of remaining and new shareholders, however, the subsequent short-term trading performance is more often seen as the measure of a good IPO as opposed to a bad IPO.
For the board and management of the newly-listed entity, their measure of success and their reputation will depend on how well the newly-listed entity performs in the medium term and delivers on the investment proposition on which new shareholders based their investment decision.
Different stages
It is important for ongoing board and management to recognise that there are two very different stages in the journey to becoming a successful listed entity.
The first is all about the transaction which delivers the listing.
Many management teams mistakenly see this as the ultimate objective and, following months of frenetic activity, expect their lives to return to the way they were pre-IPO when they can once again concentrate on running the business. Regrettably, that is not the case. It is quickly discovered, as they move into the relationship stage, that life will never be the same because new obligations and responsibilities require a significant cultural change.
The second involves building relationships with new owners, which requires time.
Our firm assists companies in the stage of considering an IPO and preparing for the IPO process, in the IPO itself and at the stage where the company is already traded on the stock exchange..