Our well-established Capital Markets' team specialises in helping investment funds through all stages of public market capital raising. We have a deep understanding of what is expected of an investment fund in order to establish itself as a listed vehicle.
Our dedicated team offers full advice on what you need to do to complete an IPO or go to market for follow-on capital raises. We can help you evaluate the pros and cons of an IPO, assess your readiness for a listing, navigate every phase of the complex IPO process and prepare your investment fund for life as a public entity.
We offer a broad suite of services for both Channel Islands and UK investment funds considering an IPO, bringing together the right team from across PwC with a deep bench of skills and experience.
Our IPO services include:
Our dedicated global network of deals and capital markets' professionals have the knowledge and experience across a range of industries, regulatory regimes, accounting standards and business processes to help you master the many challenges of your transaction. We work with you and take the time to explore your business, using technology-driven solutions and our extensive transformation and project management experience, to uncover ways to optimise value at every stage.
We will also bring together the right experts from other IPO-related services across the PwC network to meet your needs, including, tax advice, strategy, reward planning, management incentives, corporate governance and compliance.
Going public is a transformational event in every sense. It requires significant effort. The many different parts of your investment fund also need to work together towards a common goal. With the right preparation for the journey, it can be an exciting and rewarding step.
The key to a successful IPO is preparation. Once you’ve decided to go public, and you’ve chosen your market(s), you need to be in the right shape to begin the process. It’s important to have a well-thought-through business plan and corporate structure, a compelling equity story, and appropriate governance, financial and IT systems in place.
And you’ll need to be ready from day one of being public, addressing new requirements around regulatory compliance, risk management, reporting, investor relations, and more. All of this, of course, while continuing to manage your portfolio efficiently and strategically.
The process can be complex with the factors to be considered at each stage of your IPO journey covered in our interactive pdf 'IPO Journey tool'.
IPO process execution involves transaction diligence, as well as the preparation of the required documentation for submission to the regulator and, when appropriate, prospective investors. The process requires careful orchestration of multiple workstreams, including marketing, legal, accounting, tax and prospectus preparation. This will need to be managed in addition to running your fund as usual for existing vehicles, which becomes even more important in the lead up to the IPO.
We would act as your IPO accountants, providing assurance over your financial track record or provide hands-on advice in preparing your financial track record and/or executing the required financial due diligence. Our team will give you practical advice throughout the process and may also act as your project manager, covering all aspects of the transaction. In addition, we can be your sounding board for any recommendations you receive from the lead investment banks and other advisors, including on valuation, investor targeting and pricing.
Your IPO is not the end of the story, it is just the beginning. Once listed, your fund will be under far greater public and regulatory scrutiny than ever before, with a wider universe of stakeholders, associated risks and obligations to manage.
You will need to ensure that you have robust processes and procedures in place to fulfil your obligations as a public Investment Fund; or have the appropriate outsourced service providers to assist you and a suitable board of directors to apply appropriate corporate governance oversight to the Investment Fund.
You will also need to manage potential risks to protect your fund reputation and retain investor confidence. We can continue to support you post-IPO on a wide range of public company matters, including financial reporting, corporate governance, risk management, as well as in future transactions.
