INTRODUCTION TO IPO?
What is an IPO? An initial public offering (IPO) is the first time a company issues shares to the public. This is when a private company decides to go ‘public’. In other words, a company that was privately-owned until then becomes a publicly-traded company. Before the IPO, a company has very few shareholders. This includes the founders, angel investors and venture capitalists. But during an IPO, the company opens its shares for sale to the public. As an investor, you can buy shares directly from the company and become a shareholder. How are shares allocated in an IPO? There are different investor categories when it comes to IPOs. This includes: Qualified Insititutional Buyers (QIBs) Non Institutional Investors (NIIs) Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) The allocation of shares differs for all the above groups in an IPO. As an individual investor, you come under the last category. As an individual investor, y...