Posts Tagged ‘Over The Counter Bulletin Board’

As the global economy becomes more uncertain, entrepreneurs and CEOs are evaluating their fundraising strategies as traditional institutional lenders and government grants are become less available. For solid companies with profits there is a strong possibility of going public.

Pink Sheets aren’t very appealing to investors so these otc pink sheet companies can rarely stay in existence post public and the NASDAQ is a platform in which few can qualify so for companies seeking a rapid public offering of the pinks and the legitimacy of the NASDAQ the OTCBB (over the counter bulletin boards) is a viable option. The process can take from 3 to 6 months for a direct s1 filing and if it’s a real company getting the market maker to file the 15c211 is not that big of an issue as long as the initial audit and S1 filing went through without a hitch.

Post public operations are a completely different story and the investor relations strategy can and will make or break your ability to succeed in the public realm.

A strong investor relations campaign should contain a few central components: general corporate publicity, publicity wraps that go around each ‘C’ level executive to create the ‘expert’ label with your key staff, phone room communication to brokers to notify them on the ins and outs and what’s coming up for your company, stock alerts keeping seasoned traders up to speed with your stock position and information, press releases, keeping an eye out for and announcing the potential acquisitions and don’t forget about viral media (video, bookmarks, articles etc). One other thing is to hire a solid publicist who can get you on radio and television expert panel interview sessions as well as getting mentioned in journals and news papers.

All of the above is absolutely crucial to surviving and thriving in your post public life. One other thing, keep an eye out for solid strategic alliances who have multiple synergies that overlap with your business model. This is an important element for domestic and international growth and investor appeal.

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Becoming a publicly traded company is an exciting and rewarding experience. The following sets forth the method, steps, fees and estimated timetable to go public on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) ‘from scratch’, or through a self-filing and discusses the 1934 Exchange Act responsibilities after a company’s registration statement has gone effective (after the company has become publicly traded):

Prior to filing the registration statement, a company that wishes to go public must first obtain an audit of the Company’s financial statements for the past two fiscal years. For most companies, the financial audit can be completed in about a month and costs typically range between $5,000 and $25,000, depending on the complexity of the company financials.

A public company will also need shareholders. To that end, if additional shareholders are needed, the company going public will need to complete a self-underwritten Regulation D, Rule 506 offering in which the company sells shares of its stock to investors for real consideration. This is not a difficult task, so long as you have a properly prepared private placement memorandum (PPM) and you follow the relatively simple rules of Rule 506. The price per share and number of shares offered can be determined by the Company, but most registered broker-dealers that will eventually submit a Form 211 for an OTC Bulletin Board quotation prefer to have a minimum of 400,000 shares distributed among the investors.

In addition to the minimum number of shareholders requirement, a company must have free-trading shares, called the ‘float’, in order to go public. Upon completion of the private offering and the financial audit for the prior two fiscal years, an S-1 Registration Statement must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to register the shares sold in the private placement, thus creating the free trading shares. The completion of the S-1 process with the SEC will make the Company a 1934 Exchange Act reporting company, which is required in order to obtain a quotation on the OTC Bulletin Board. The SEC will review the S-1 and provide comments within 30 days from the filing date. Comments from the SEC typically relate to the terms of the offering, the Company’s business and its financial statements. It usually takes between 2 to 3 months for the SEC to approve a registration statement on Form S-1 and for the S-1 to become effective. However, the actual amount of time will depend on the level of review and number of comments given by the SEC and the corresponding response time by the Company in filing its amendments.

Shortly after filing the S-1 registration statement with the SEC, a market maker must be ‘engaged’ to file a Form 211 application with FINRA for the purposes of obtaining a quotation of its common shares on the OTC Bulletin Board. It is important to note that market makers cannot receive compensation for making a market in a stock, thus typically you must have connections to accomplish this. The timetable for approval of the Form 211 process is approximately 3 weeks to 5 weeks. However, the Form 211 will not be approved until the S-1 is approved by the SEC since the approval of the S-1 provides the “free trading” shares necessary to obtain the OTC Bulletin Board quotation.

The completion of the entire process to become a public company typically takes approximately 3 to 4 months from completion of the private offering and financial audit, however, the actual time could vary based on the factors discussed herein. If done right, with planning, hard work, the proper foresight, and a good firm guiding you through the process, going public is a truly exciting and rewarding experience.

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Taking Your Company Public? Post Public Investor Relations Can Make Or Break Your Company Going public is an amazing undertaking with the light anticipated at the end of the tunnel is increased market share, financial stability and of course the almighty strategy of growth through acquisition. The problem is for most companies that light at the end of the tunnel isn’t anything even remotely close to the above; instead it’s a train that will crush you under it’s weight as it’s steaming full speed ahead. That train is a personification of the ‘lack’ of solid investor relations strategies in your post public existence.

Investor relations is the process of working with broker dealers, market makers, stock alert services, press release distribution, fielding calls from the media, potential investors and others interested in your company as well as general publicity to get your executive, company name and trading symbol on as many TV screens, radio waves, social media platforms and email boxes as possible.

The above is the traditional comprehension of a ‘newbie’ public CEO. What most new public CEOs lack the understanding of the post public IR concept so they don’t know what questions to ask the IR firm and have no knowledge to compare services so they sign a crap deal, the stock price doesn’t open, then plummets and everyone begins pointing the finger and on and on with the blame game.

Here is a part of investor relations that most companies never consider. A solid IR firm will have a strong network of investors, broker dealers, private equity funds etc. to create liquidation options for pre IPO investors in a way that will not damage the stock price, to the contrary, the share price will typically go up.

You need to have your consultant set up a safeguard so that when people buy and sell your shares it’s done in a way that doesn’t cause panic but induces investor confidence. When you are interviewing Investor Relations firms a few questions to ask is: how to they create the market, what safety nets and precautionary measures do they put in place to protect the integrity of your newly public company stock and how vast is their ’speed dial’ investor network (investors they have rapport with so that they can offer buy and hold stock positioning which will minimize your risk when seed investors start cashing in their shares).

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What Is the Process Of Taking A Company Public? Here Are The Answers!

Going public can make or break a company. As long as you are prepared it can be the biggest blessing ever bestowed on your company. Understanding the process can help you decide if this is a direction you’d like to take. Here is the process:

First you’ll need corporate structuring to create a business model that is conducive to raising capital and increasing investor confidence so you’ll need to take a long hard look at your ‘C’ level executives and their educational and professional pedigree and track record, your board of directors capabilities and abilities to contribute with capital connections and strategic alliances.

Second you’ll need to write a business plan that take into consideration a strong business model, financial projections that will stand up to the scrutiny of your SEC auditor and investors who have their investments audited by legal counsel and accountants while simultaneously painting a picture of a solid and viable, and yes, recession proof business model.

Third you will need a PPM to break your company up into shares to distribute to seed capital investors and stay within the SEC Regulation D requirements.

Fourth you’re ready to file your S1 and get into the comments stage. Be prepared to answer questions and be patient. The SE needs to understand your business enough to approve it. Some of their comments are pretty strange but it is what it is. Your best bet is to have a good securities attorney file for you.

Fifth you need your third party audit. This can be a large financial undertaking if your books are a mess and a good auditor can be in and out in around a month.

Sixth after the SEC approval you’ll have your market maker file your 15c211 with FINRA to get your approval and stock symbol.

Lastly, you’ll need a strong post public investor relations strategy to induce investment and calm down those who want to sell their stock. A good IR strategy will also bring into account massive amounts of traditional and viral publicity.

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Seriously, sometimes I have to step back and laugh when I see company owners trying to pre-qualify consulting firms to take them public. I just stand there and scratch my head in disbelief when they think they are asking all the ‘right’ questions when all they are doing is setting themselves up for failure.

I recently had a company who claimed to have investors who wanted to invest in pre ipo deals. For a few weeks these guys called with a million questions and demands, most of which were contrary to basic SEC regulations and compliance. I tried to set them straight but they just didn’t get it. These guys who called themselves consultants really had no clue as to what they were doing and the questions they were asking me about my firm in order to qualify our firm were completely off base and were actually laughable. It was irritating at the time, now I just sit back and laugh as I chalk it up as another lesson learned and another relationship that fortunately did not come to fruition.

Here are some realities to consider when talking to a consulting firm to take your company public. First, no consulting group acts alone, instead they play quarterback or orchestrator to facilitate a smooth, stress free process. Most consulting firms that take companies public on the OTCBB will have securities attorneys on staff for the s1 filing, third party SEC approved auditors for the SEC audit, multiple market makers to choose from for the filing of the 15c211 and scores of Investor Relations contacts for post public market creation.

When doing due diligence on an Edgar link for S1’s in process you’ll only see the attorney information and the auditor. The Consultant has to be content to stand in the background making the entire process function and succeed with virtually no public claim or credit. If you’re doing due diligence on a consulting firm it’s more important to find out how vast their network is as opposed to being the predictable intellectual midget who will look up the consultants previous stock symbols and call the company and expect to miraculously get on the phone with a person who knows the consultant first hand. The mere thought is so ridiculous it’s redundant to even bring it up but this is something that uninformed people actually do as part of what they consider ‘due diligence’.

All you need to do is this: Talk to the senior partner at the consulting firm. Establish whether or not they are full service. Gain an understanding for how long it takes them to get you from S1 to trading symbol. If you want to do some real due diligence, find out about their post public investor relations strategy so your company not only goes public but can stay public and profitable.

Consulting firms who take companies public on the OTCBB are a small part of the whole but without them, the transaction couldn’t happen. They are the 24/7 worker bees doing the impossible for the ungrateful….until the symbol is achieved and the stock is trading properly, they you get a pat on the back and, “hey thank you so much for your hard work…what was your name again?” And I always respond, “you can call me whatever you want but on my Share Certificates you can put Princeton Corporate Solutions”.

OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, of course they are going to remember my name but the reality is, solid due diligence by a company wanting to go public starts with a general evaluation of the consulting firm, some basic technical questions and then getting to the root and depth of their contact base to make sure your going public efforts are fast and smooth.

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