24 Feb 2008 12:33:15 | Joseph Quinones
Many Reverse Mergers have been successful when done properly
that is why I never consent to doing one without providing the
company with the possible problems that can arise and how to
deal with them.
I also provide the client with the alternatives to Reverse
Merger, such as Regulation D Offering, Direct Public Offering
and private placement.
One way to make sure that the Reverse merger is going to work is
to buy one hundred per cent of the shares owned by the shell
owner, but this is not a guarantee because there could be shares
unaccounted for.
Proper due diligence is a must, and you must be immune to smooth
talking salesmen.An alternative to a Reverse Merger is a Direct
Public Offering, DPO.
Direct Public Offerings are increasing in popularity since the
shell prices are skyrocketing and companies are becoming aware
of the problems associated with Reverse mergers.
And if a company is trying to obtain financing Direct Public
Offerings are preferable to a venture capital investment,
venture capital firms demand a large portion of the company and
will not be passive investors.
Venture capital investors will be very involved with the company
and will make demands that can be detrimental to the company’s
success, they may not give you enough time to put your business
plan in place.
An IPO is probably out of the question because you must convince
an underwriter that your company is the next Microsoft, or you
will have a difficult time getting someone to do the IPO for you.
An IPO is more expensive and time consuming and will take the
decision making out of your hands place it in the underwriters
hands.
A DPO is targeted to affinity groups such as employees,
suppliers, distributors and customers. These groups usually are
familiar with the company and are loyal to it.
DPO’s are registered securities offerings that allow you to
market the securities directly to the public. The Internet can
be use to market the securities but if your website doesn’t have
a lot of traffic nobody will know about your stock offering.
So that leaves affinity groups as your best source of funding,
unless you are a google and the investors are looking for you.
As the large corporations continue to reduce their work force
and are leaving a lot of talented people with the option of an
unemployment check or starting their on business, we find that a
lot of the job creation is being left to small businesses.
These small businesses must find capital in order to expand or
to fill order, small business have created over 20 million jobs
over the last 15 years while big business has been cutting them.
If this creative force had the capital they could propel the
economy to unheard of levels.
DPO’s fall under “SCOR” small corporate registration and are for
companies doing under $25 million in revenues and have a
capitalization (share market value) of less than $25 million
dollars.
By doing a Direct Public Offering you are raising capital that
will not be costing you monthly interest payment, and is a
permanent source of funding.
You will not have to give a large portion of the company to
investors, a venture capitalist will demand a disproportionate
Amount. Private funding is always more expensive in terms of
equity and control.
As a public company you can better negotiate future financing
requirements, and use the company stock for acquisitions. In a
DPO filing you only need 2 years of audited financial as compare
to 3 years for other filings.
All this sounds easy but in reality it isn’t you need somebody
with experience to hold your hand and guide you through the
process.
You must make sure that you are ready for the commitment and are
prepare to devote the required time to this endeavor. Talk to
your affinity groups about the possibility of investing in your
company, this will give you an idea as to who is a potential
investor.
Keep updated records of your customers and friends in the
community who may be contacted later on. It may become necessary
to purchase a mailing list, if you are medical product company
or laboratory you would know some of the Doctors in your
community but not all of them.
Stay in the planning mode and take necessary step while you are
preparing for your DPO, such as having one year of financials
audited and having a business plan prepared and printed, so that
you don’t have to incur all the expenses at once.
Give us a call so that we can start planning together, the more
prepare you are the less you will have to rush later, everyone
everything done yesterday but the process takes time.
Regulation D Offerings: This rule provides an exemption from the
registration requirements of section 5 of the Securities Act of
1933. Such transactions are not exempt from the antifraud civil
liability, or other provisions of the federal securities laws.
(See my article on Regulation D (504) offering.
Nothing in these rules obviates the need to comply with any
applicable state law relating to the offer and sale of
securities.
Rule 506: Provides an exemption for limited offers and sales
without regard to the dollar amount of the offering. This offer
does not limit the number of accredited investors, but the
nonaccredited investors is limited to 35. for a description of
accredited and nonaccredited investors see my article on
Regulation D (504) offering.
Rule 505: Offerings may not exceed $5,000.000.00 less the total
dollar amount of securities sold during the preceding 12 months
period under rule 504 or 505. This exemption limits the number
of nonaccredited investors to 35 but has no investor
sophistication standards.
Rule 504: Offerings allows business to raise a maximum of
$1,000,000.00 in a twelve month period, under Rule 504, Rule 505
or section 3 of the act a business can raise only $500,000.00 by
the sale of securities to persons residing in the states of
Montana and Alaska, which have no disclosure law. In states that
have disclosure laws companies can raise up to $1,000,000,.00.
Rule 504 has no prescribed disclosure requirements, no limit on
the number of purchasers. Offering under Rule 504 are relatively
simple to prepare, which reduces the cost and delay and does not
require an underwriter.
For additional Information Please visit:
www.genesiscorporateadvisors.com
For questions email: josephquinones@genesiscorporateadvisors.com
About Author :
Joseph Quinones, President of Genesis Corporate Advisors has
spent over 25 years in the securities industry. In 1992 he
founded JDQ Financial Group, Inc. and proceeded to build it up
from a one man operation to the point where it employed many
traders, advised numerous client and generated millions in
revenues.