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A registered direct offering (RDO) is a public offering of securities that is sold on a best efforts basis by a placement agent that is engaged by the issuer to introduce the issuer to potential purchasers. An RDO is generally targeted to a select number of accredited and institutional investors, although it may be sold to non-accredited investors. Issuers find RDOs an attractive option when they are seeking to test the market or conduct an offering without attracting much market attention.

In this Lexis Practice Advisor® Top 10 Practice Tips, we provide 10 practice points relating to RDOs.

A comfort letter is a letter delivered by an issuer’s independent accountants to the underwriters or initial purchasers that provides certain assurances with respect to financial information included in a registration statement, prospectus or offering memorandum used for a securities offering. Underwriting agreements and purchase agreements typically require the delivery of one or more comfort letters, in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the underwriters, initial purchasers or their counsel, as a condition to closing the securities offering. Comfort letters assist underwriters in establishing a due diligence defense under Section 11 of the Securities Act and in creating a record of their reasonable investigation of the issuer and its financial condition to ensure there are no material misstatements or omissions in the offering document.

In this Lexis Practice Advisor® Top 10 Practice Tips, we provide 10 practice points that can help you, as counsel to underwriters or initial purchasers, skillfully navigate the task of reviewing and negotiating comfort letters.

In connection with securities offerings, the underwriters or placement agents generally negotiate a lock-up agreement with the issuer, as well as with the issuer’s directors, officers, and, in the case of initial public offerings, control persons. The lock-up agreements provide the underwriters or placement agents with some assurance that new issuer securities will not be sold immediately following the proposed offering the sale of which might disrupt the trading market for the offered securities.

In this Lexis Practice Advisor® Top 10 Practice Tips, we provide 10 practice points to consider in drafting and negotiating lock-up agreements.

A pre-funded warrant allows its holder to purchase the issuer’s securities at a nominal exercise price (typically, $0.01 per share).  Instead of waiting to receive proceeds following a warrant’s exercise, the issuer receives substantially all of the warrant’s proceeds upfront (without any conditions) as part of the warrant’s purchase price.  In our recently published On point. we provide a comprehensive overview of pre-funded warrants, including certain advantages for issuers and holders, as well as structuring and other legal considerations.

In this Lexis Practice Advisor® Practice Note, we provide answers to questions frequently asked by securities lawyers and their clients regarding the federal securities laws applicable to communications and publicity matters involving companies conducting initial public offerings (IPOs) and other securities offerings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act).

Specifically, this practice note includes questions relating to:

  • Publicity guidelines during IPOs;
  • Publicity guidelines for follow-on offerings;
  • Roadshows and non-deal road shows; and
  • Earnings guidance issued close to a registered offering.

Since January 2018, the present U.S. administration has imposed a series of tariff policies (U.S. Tariff Policies) that potentially have a wide range of consequences. In this Lexis Practice Advisor® Practice Note, partner Anna Pinedo and associates Martin Estrada and Gonzalo Go discuss disclosure trends related to U.S. Tariff Policies.

Structuring a transaction that addresses an issuer’s capital structure, including its debt obligations, financial and other covenant limitations, and debt maturity profile, involves compromise in some cases. An appropriate liability management transaction that considers the issuer’s objectives and also provides sufficient incentives for existing security holders can be a delicate balancing exercise.

The topic is timely as in the years following the financial crisis, low interest rates lead issuers to take on cheap debt, with some later refinancing through liability management transactions. Debt management exercises are expected to increase in the years to come.

In the International Financial Law Review‘s publication, Structuring Liability Management Transactions, Mayer Brown lawyers provide a summary of the US legal framework, including guidance provided in numerous no-action letters issued over many years, applicable to debt repurchases, tender offers and exchange offers. They also present some of the main regulatory and tax considerations that should be taken into account when determining the best approach.

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