20:59
got a random stanford email and almost had a heart attack
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Simple English definitions for legal terms
follow-on offering
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A quick definition of follow-on offering:
Follow-on offering: A follow-on offering is when a company sells more shares to the public after they have already gone public through an initial public offering (IPO). This is usually done because the company needs more money. Sometimes, existing shareholders may also sell their shares to the public. This can make the shares worth less because there are more of them. But if the company is just selling shares it already has, then it doesn't make the shares worth less.
A more thorough explanation:
A follow-on offering is a type of public offering that occurs after a company has already gone public through an initial public offering (IPO). This type of offering is also known as a "follow-on public offer" or "FPO." Companies usually conduct follow-on offerings when they need additional capital beyond what they raised in their IPO.
Follow-on offerings can be conducted as shelf offerings, which means that the company has already registered the securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and can sell them to the public at any time. Alternatively, follow-on offerings can occur as secondary offerings if existing shareholders want to sell their shares to the public.
There are two types of follow-on offerings: dilutive and non-dilutive. A dilutive offering increases the number of shares outstanding, which means that each share is entitled to a lower relative portion of the company's earnings. On the other hand, a non-dilutive offering does not increase the number of shares outstanding.
One example of a follow-on offering is when a company goes public through an IPO and then conducts a follow-on offering to raise additional capital for expansion or to pay off debt. For instance, in 2019, Uber went public through an IPO and then conducted a follow-on offering to raise $8.1 billion in capital.
Another example of a follow-on offering is when existing shareholders want to sell their shares to the public. For example, in 2020, Tesla conducted a secondary offering where existing shareholders sold their shares to the public, raising $2.3 billion.
These examples illustrate how follow-on offerings can help companies raise additional capital beyond what they raised in their IPO. They also show how follow-on offerings can be conducted as either dilutive or non-dilutive offerings.