Pre-IPO Support

The decision to list your company is likely to be a major step which will have a significant impact on a number of stakeholders. The process itself can be long and will require substantial input from the management team, so the company’s resources will be tested. Preparation is key and can often be the differentiating factor that helps you to achieve a successful listing.

If you are thinking about an IPO in the UK, we can assist you in:

  • Assessing your company’s readiness for life as a public company (with a focus on accounting and financial aspects); and
  • Identifying and resolving potential financial, accounting and taxation barriers to a successful listing.

We have developed the Mazars AIM IPO Experience as an interactive, free of charge session which will give you an insight into the key challenges that you are likely to face during the IPO process. The session is delivered by our experienced team, supported by other experts. As well as offering practical advice on financial, accounting and taxation matters, we can help to analyse and develop a clear and focused strategy.

Specific issues which should be considered at an early stage include:

IFRS conversion: do you have financial information covering three years prepared under IFRS? Our team of financial reporting experts will be able to assist you with this task.

Financial forecast modelling: do you have an integrated financial model looking forward at least 24 months? Does it include monthly profit & loss, cash flow and balance sheets? Does it accurately reflect your investment plans? And is it capable of withstanding reasonable sensitivities? Our team of financial modelling experts will be able to assist you with this task.

Financial Position and Prospects Procedures: can you report to the market within short deadlines and set reasonable expectations of future performance? Are your control systems sufficiently robust? Our business processes team will be able to assist you in developing a robust control framework in advance of your listing.

Tax optimisation strategies: are the corporate structure and jurisdiction appropriate to optimise tax for the company and shareholders? Are there any potential ‘dividend traps’? Our taxation experts will be able to assist you.

Management and staff share incentive schemes: do you have management and staff incentives which will aid the motivation and retention of key individuals? This can be a complex area in which our share scheme experts have considerable experience to help you avoid potential pitfalls.

Acquisitions and reverse takeovers: one way of becoming listed is to perform a reverse takeover of a company which is already listed. Alternatively you may be seeking to make an acquisition which coincides with the IPO. Prior to undertaking such a transaction you should perform due diligence to ensure that there are no historical issues which will impact your business in future. Our due diligence team can provide due diligence services to assist you in making an acquisition.

Return back to our main page for more of our IPO services offerings.

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