InterCat Compile Final

(Q1) Janet Richards and Gilbert Baker own a small firm named InterCat. The firm specializes in the creation and maintenance of Internet catalogues aimed at small businesses. It currently employs around 50 people, most of whom are computer programmers and analysts that follow the high technology market closely. As partners of the firm, they have decided to continue growing and to capture new business from its competitors. To do so, they have decided to start the process of making an initial public offering (IPO). The goal is to start this process as quickly as possible for several reasons, including becoming first to market to capture most of the market share, obtaining a good stock price, and to be one of the few private firms in the industry to go public.
To start the process, Janet and Gilbert map out the steps and lists each major activity that needs to be completed as well as how each are dependent upon the others. They also list an estimated timeframe of when each activity should be completed along with the associated cost as shown in Figure Q1.
(Q2&3) The minimum amount of time that Janet Richards and Gilbert Baker need to fully complete the initial public offering (IPO) is 28 weeks. During this time period both partners can successfully complete the following critical steps necessary to finalize their IPO process: (1) Evaluate the prestige of potential underwriters, (2) Select a syndicate of underwriters, (3) Negotiate the spread of the syndicate members, (4) Prepare the registration statement including the proposed financing and information about the firm’s history, existing businesses, and plans for the future, (5) Submit the registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), (6) Receive deficiency memorandum from the SEC, (7) Amend the registration statement and resubmit it to the SEC, (8) Receive registration confirmation from the SEC, (9) Appoint a transfer agent, and (10) Issue the final prospectus including the final offer