The Ernst & Young Guide to the IPO Value Journey [Hardcover]

Ernst & Young (Author), Stephen C. Blowers (Author), Peter H. Griffith (Author), Thomas L. Milan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0471352330 | ISBN-13: 978-0471352334 | Edition: 1

A practical guide to taking your company public--successfully This updated version of the Ernst & Young Guide to Taking Your Company Public looks at the IPO as a milestone in a larger process called The Value Journey?sm, the basis for the work of the Ernst & Young Center for Strategic Transactions??, a business advisory resource for CEOs. This practical book is designed to help you determine whether an IPO is the right move for your company and addresses the major leadership challenges that CEOs face. It describes how to plan your IPO journey and chart your business strategy, focusing on the steps you must take to succeed during and after the IPO event and fulfill the critical need to continuously innovate and renew your company.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The Ernst & Young LLP Guide to the IPO Value Journey^® In recent years, initial public offerings have exploded in number and have enjoyed incredible performance at the outset. However, many companies fizzle during the first three years after going public, significantly underperforming the market both in profits and share price. Determined to identify the keys to successful IPOs, Ernst & Young began an ambitious research project called Managing the Success of the IPO Transformation Process^sm. The research has shown that highly successful companies (Yahoo!, Lucent Technologies, Amazon.com) treat IPO as a process—while the unsuccessful often treat it as a financing transaction. Ernst & Young has updated its Guide to Taking Your Company Public, incorporating the illuminating results of the research project into this new edition. The Ernst & Young Guide to the IPO Value Journey is a complete management guide for going public. It has been revised to focus on the IPO as a lengthy process called The Value Journey^®, which has significant impact on company operations. This book helps you decide whether an IPO is right for your company and Lets you know what to expect from the various participants in the IPO process—the SEC, the financial community, the press, and various stakeholders. The IPO process itself is described in detail, together with information about how to work with underwriters, attorneys, auditors, and other advisors.

• Learn the pros and cons of becoming a public company— and the factors that separate the highly successful from the unsuccessful
• Discover the key legal, accounting, and reporting issues you will face with an IPO event
• Elicit better performance from your board
• Implement strategic transactions, such as acquisitions, alliances, and recapitalization
• Excel at the initiatives that must take place after the IPO

From the Back Cover

A practical guide to taking your company public—successfully This updated version of the Ernst & Young Guide to Taking Your Company Public looks at the IPO as a milestone in a larger process called The Value Journey^sm, the basis for the work of the Ernst & Young Center for Strategic Transactions^®, a business advisory resource for CEOs. This practical book is designed to help you determine whether an IPO is the right move for your company and addresses the major leadership challenges that CEOs face. It describes how to plan your IPO journey and chart your business strategy, focusing on the steps you must take to succeed during and after the IPO event and fulfill the critical need to continuously innovate and renew your company.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 295 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471352330
• ISBN-13: 978-0471352334
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, easy-to-read textbook. Not not a great guide., January 26, 2001

By 

Raj Bapna "www.MindMachineLab.com" (India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ernst & Young Guide to the IPO Value Journey (Hardcover)

About the book

Based on research questioning about 500 executives who took IPOs between 1986 and 1996. So, most IPOs came from companies who had been profitable for a few years. After the collapse of the Internet stocks, the context is similar, but I believe such profit records may not be as important as during 1986-96.

Published in 1999. So, it has comments to imply "being first makes the company valuable without profits".

About the authors and their style

Authors are experienced in their job of bringing IPOs.

This book is not at all in the class of books by Al Ries and Jack Trout, but more like a text book, covering every related point (from text book point of view). There is no prioritization or difference in emphasis of the importance of various issues involved.

Their diagram on cover of book is confusing because they have used 2-dimensions to show a linear 1-dimension process, which essentially are their recommended steps.

Book's Message

1. Define goal/success. IPO may not be the best way to achieve that.

2. Plan and start working on IPO at least one year ahead of the need.

3. Many specific to-do items: · Revise salaries as variable salaries that include stocks rather than just cash. · Plan personal estates. Give gifts before IPOs to family members to minimize future tax liability. Hire CPA for this planning. · Hire Earnst & Young early. · Clean books of accounts-use GAAP. · Build strong executive team. · Start working like a public company at least one year before-that is-create quarter-to-quarter profitability guidance and exceed them. Create reports such as needed by SEC. · Build external Board. Create committees of Board members.

If you want to read just 7 pages, read these: 25, 37, 56, 65, 74, 108, 170

40 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IPO handbook for CEOs, December 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ernst & Young Guide to the IPO Value Journey (Hardcover)

I found this book had just the right amount of detail for the CEO without becoming tiresome. It gives a very good overview of the IPO process and provides plenty of recommendations to guide you along the way.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MasterGuide for IPO (US), November 30, 2000

By 

Prof David T Wright (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ernst & Young Guide to the IPO Value Journey (Hardcover)

Aimed at executives considering an IPO, the `IPO Value Journey' is also of use to staff in pre/post-IPO companies to understand about market perceptions of companies & ideal "success factors".

The lightly referenced, well structured chapters span: the CEO's journey; the journey's early vital steps; chart your transaction strategy; chart your personal strategy; create the winning team; complete your IPO platform; be the public company; the IPO event; and deliver the value. Useful appendices span: outline for a business plan; selecting the stock market; registration exemptions and resale restrictions; overview of the SEC and SEC rules and regulations; simplified registration under the small business disclosure system; and glossary.

Strengths include: the concise factual (dry) writing style; good use of exhibits and checklists; and useful easily-accessible content addressing legal, accounting, reporting, board issues (amongst others).

Weaknesses include: need for more sidebar success story anecdotes (which integrate the steps); mostly US focus; and relatively superficial analysis evidence supporting the success factors and `journey' metaphor.

Overall, a very useful working book, to be read with something like `Confessions of a Venture Capitalist' (ISBN 0446526800) or `E-boys' (ISBN 0812930959), for a fuller life-cycle, energetic view of the IPO journey.