Conclusion

Abstract

Appointing lead banks for an IPO can be a complex and time-consuming exercise. But it is well worth extending the effort to ensure that the senior syndicate banks are well-qualified, and also able to work harmoniously together. Importantly, a tight, core group of houses should be responsible for driving the transaction, with perhaps a slightly wider number of firms involved in the marketing phase per se, from assembling a group of cornerstone investors (if any), right through to the pricing and allocation stages. Appointing a very large number of firms for any IPO is simply the wrong thing to do: it will irremediably dilute responsibilities and economics while in no way ensuring that a wider pool of investors is accessed and allocated. More banks do not equal more demand, and even less so higher quality allocations of stock to investors.