Red herring prospectus

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A red herring prospectus, as a first or preliminary prospectus, is a document submitted by a company (issuer) as part of a public offering of securities (either stocks or bonds). Most frequently associated with an initial public offering (IPO), this document, like the previously submitted Form S-1 registration statement, must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Contents

A red herring prospectus is issued to potential investors, but does not have complete particulars on the price of the securities offered and quantum of securities to be issued. [1] The front page of the prospectus displays a bold red disclaimer stating that information in the prospectus is not complete and may be changed, and that the securities may not be sold until the registration statement, filed with the market regulator, is effective. [2] Potential investors may not place buy orders for the security, based solely on the information contained within the preliminary prospectus. Those investors may, however, express an "indication of interest" in the offering, provided that they have received a copy of the red herring at least 72 hours prior to the public sale. After the registration statement becomes effective, and the stock is offered to the public, indications of interest may be converted to purchase orders, at the buyer's discretion. The final prospectus must then be promptly delivered to the buyer.

Contents

"Red-herring prospectus" means a prospectus that does not have complete particulars on the price of the securities offered and quantum of securities offered. The red herring statement contains:

  1. purpose of the issue;
  2. disclosure of any option agreement;
  3. underwriter's commissions and discounts;
  4. promotion expenses;
  5. net proceeds to the issuing company (issuer);
  6. balance sheet;
  7. earnings statements for last 3 years, if available;
  8. names and address of all officers, directors, underwriters and stockholders owning 10% or more of the current outstanding stock;
  9. copy of the underwriting agreement;
  10. legal opinion on the issue;
  11. copies of the articles of incorporation of the issuer.

Prospectus

Since the registration statement (SEC Form S-1) is a very lengthy and complex document, the Securities Act of 1933 requires the preparation of a shorter document, known as a prospectus, for investors to read. The Preliminary (or Red Herring) Prospectus is distributed during the quiet period, before the registration statement has become effective with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Upon the registration becoming effective, a "Final Prospectus" is prepared and distributed which includes the final public offering price and the number of shares issued. Only then, can the public offering of shares be completed.

Name

The name "Red Herring" relates to the red lettered disclaimer displayed on the front page of each preliminary prospectus. That disclaimer contains information similar to the following:

A Registration Statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. Information contained herein is subject to completion or amendment. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the Registration Statement becomes effective.

The wording can be, and usually is, slightly different with each individual filing. An example is the 2012 Facebook prospectus. [3]

Registration

The minimum period between the filing of a Registration and its effective date is 20 days, called the "cooling-off period." The SEC can deem the registration "deficient" in which case registration does not become effective until the deficiencies are corrected. The SEC does not approve the securities registered with it, does not pass on the investment merits, nor guarantee the accuracy of the statements within the registration statement or prospectus. The SEC merely attempts to make certain that all pertinent information is disclosed.

Related Research Articles

An initial public offering (IPO) or stock market launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also retail (individual) investors. An IPO is underwritten by one or more investment banks, who also arrange for the shares to be listed on one or more stock exchanges. Through this process, colloquially known as floating, or going public, a privately held company is transformed into a public company. Initial public offerings can be used to raise new equity capital for companies, to monetize the investments of private shareholders such as company founders or private equity investors, and to enable easy trading of existing holdings or future capital raising by becoming publicly traded.

Securities Act of 1933 Legislation regulating the offer and sale of securities

The Securities Act of 1933, also known as the 1933 Act, the Securities Act, the Truth in Securities Act, the Federal Securities Act, and the '33 Act, was enacted by the United States Congress on May 27, 1933, during the Great Depression and after the stock market crash of 1929. It is an integral part of United States securities regulation. It is legislated pursuant to the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution.

American depositary receipt Security representing ownership of an underlying number of shares of a foreign company

An American depositary receipt is a negotiable security that represents securities of a foreign company and allows that company's shares to trade in the U.S. financial markets.

Shelf registration, shelf offering, or shelf prospectus is a type of public offering where certain issuers are allowed to offer and sell securities to the public without a separate prospectus for each act of offering and without the issue of further prospectus. Instead, there is a single prospectus for multiple, undefined future offerings. The prospectus may be used to offer securities for up to several years after its publication. A shelf registration statement is a filing with the SEC to register a public offering, usually where there is no present intention to immediately sell all the securities being registered. A shelf registration statement permits multiple offerings based on the same registration. Shelf registration is mostly used for sales of new securities by the issuer, although it might possibly be used for resales of outstanding securities or a combination of both.

The Investment Company Act of 1940 is an act of Congress which regulates investment funds. It was passed as a United States Public Law on August 22, 1940, and is codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 80a-1–80a-64. Along with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and extensive rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, it forms the backbone of United States financial regulation. It has been updated by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. It is the primary source of regulation for mutual funds and closed-end funds, an investment industry now in the many trillions of dollars. In addition, the '40 Act impacts the operations of hedge funds, private equity funds and even holding companies.

In the United States under the Securities Act of 1933, any offer to sell securities must either be registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or meet certain qualifications to exempt them from such registration. Regulation D contains the rules providing exemptions from the registration requirements, allowing some companies to offer and sell their securities without having to register the securities with the SEC. A Regulation D offering is intended to make access to the capital markets possible for small companies that could not otherwise bear the costs of a normal SEC registration. Reg D may also refer to an investment strategy, mostly associated with hedge funds, based upon the same regulation. The regulation is found under Title 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 230, Sections 501 through 508. The legal citation is 17 C.F.R. §230.501 et seq.

An "over-allotment option", or sometimes a greenshoe is the term commonly used to describe a special arrangement in a share offering, for example an initial public offering (IPO), which enables the investment bank representing the underwriters to support the share price after the offering without putting their own capital at risk. The option is codified as a provision in the underwriting agreement between the leading underwriter - the lead manager - and the issuer or vendor.

Rights issue

A rights issue or rights offer is a dividend of subscription rights to buy additional securities in a company made to the company's existing security holders. When the rights are for equity securities, such as shares, in a public company, it is a non-dilutive(can be dilutive) pro rata way to raise capital. Rights issues are typically sold via a prospectus or prospectus supplement. With the issued rights, existing security-holders have the privilege to buy a specified number of new securities from the issuer at a specified price within a subscription period. In a public company, a rights issue is a form of public offering. Sometimes Right issue can give privileges to people like director, employees those are having some ownership in company to buy the issues.

Private placement is a funding round of securities which are sold not through a public offering, but rather through a private offering, mostly to a small number of chosen investors. Generally, these investors include friends and family, accredited investors, and institutional investors.

United States securities regulation

Securities regulation in the United States is the field of U.S. law that covers transactions and other dealings with securities. The term is usually understood to include both federal and state-level regulation by governmental regulatory agencies, but sometimes may also encompass listing requirements of exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and rules of self-regulatory organizations like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

A bought deal is financial underwriting contract often associated with an initial public offering or public offering. It occurs when an underwriter, such as an investment bank or a syndicate, purchases securities from an issuer before a preliminary prospectus is filed. The underwriter acts as principal rather than agent and thus actually "goes long" in the security. The bank negotiates a price with the issuer.

A corporate promoter is a firm or person who does the preliminary work incidental to the formation of a company, including its promotion, incorporation, and flotation, and solicits people to invest money in the company, usually when it is being formed. An investment banker, an underwriter, or a stock promoter may, wholly or in part, perform the role of a promoter. Promoters generally owe a duty of utmost good faith, so as to not mislead any potential investors, and disclose all material facts about the company's business. An earlier term for such a person is projector.

Prospectus (finance)

A prospectus, in finance, is a disclosure document that describes a financial security for potential buyers. It commonly provides investors with material information about mutual funds, stocks, bonds and other investments, such as a description of the company's business, financial statements, biographies of officers and directors, detailed information about their compensation, any litigation that is taking place, a list of material properties and any other material information. In the context of an individual securities offering, such as an initial public offering, a prospectus is distributed by underwriters or brokerages to potential investors. Today, prospectuses are most widely distributed through websites such as EDGAR and its equivalents in other countries.

A special purpose acquisition company, also known as a "blank check company" is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional initial public offering process. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), "A SPAC is created specifically to pool funds in order to finance a merger or acquisition opportunity within a set timeframe. The opportunity usually has yet to be identified". SPACs raised a record $82 billion in 2020, a period sometimes referred to as the "blank check boom".

Form S-1 is an SEC filing used by companies planning on going public to register their securities with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the "registration statement by the Securities Act of 1933". The S-1 contains the basic business and financial information on an issuer with respect to a specific securities offering. Investors may use the prospectus to consider the merits of an offering and make educated investment decisions. A prospectus is one of the main documents used by an investor to research a company prior to an initial public offering (IPO). Other less detailed registration forms, such as Form S-3 may be used for certain registrations.

A direct public offering (DPO) or direct listing is a method by which a company can offer an investment opportunity directly to the public.

Regulation S-K is a prescribed regulation under the US Securities Act of 1933 that lays out reporting requirements for various SEC filings used by public companies. Companies are also often called issuers, filers or registrants.

The social networking company Facebook, Inc. held its initial public offering (IPO) on Friday, May 18, 2012. The IPO was the biggest in technology and one of the biggest in Internet history, with a peak market capitalization of over $104 billion.

Following is a glossary of stock market terms.

In the United States under the Securities Act of 1933, any offer to sell securities must either be registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or meet certain qualifications to exempt it from such registration. Regulation A contains rules providing exemptions from the registration requirements, allowing some companies to use equity crowdfunding to offer and sell their securities without having to register the securities with the SEC. Regulation A offerings are intended to make access to capital possible for small and medium-sized companies that could not otherwise bear the costs of a normal SEC registration and to allow nonaccredited investors to participate in the offering. The regulation is found under Title 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations, chapter 2, part 230. The legal citation is 17 C.F.R. §230.251 et seq.

References

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