An initial public offering (IPO) is a securities offering, in which an enterprise sells its stock publicly for the first time without having a prior price history.
There are many ways in which an enterprise can conduct its IPO. The three most common avenues utilized are, the U.S. style “book building”, IPO auctions1, and fixed price offerings. The means chosen for going public are determined by the given country’s legislation and common practices. In certain instances, the issuer may have an option of going public by relying on any one of these three above-mentioned options. Globally, the most common avenue chosen for an IPO is the U.S. style “book building” mechanism.
In current times, with the advent of Internet technology, new underwriting mechanisms have been developed to allow for innovative ways of pricing IPOs and allocating shares. Using Internet technology to conduct an IPO is also often referred to as an online IPO auction. This research intends to analyze the potential effects new technology has on the IPO mechanism.
Author: Patrik Louko