Gearing up for the IPO journey
Every IPO journey is unique—and so are the challenges. Here’s how we delivered a customized lab experience to help one of our clients prepare for day one.
The challenge
Our client, a real estate operating platform, was planning to go public. But they were concerned about their readiness to undertake the IPO journey.
Undeterred by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have continued pursuing opportunities to go public. For our client, it was extremely important to approach their IPO with confidence, knowing that they had a solid understanding of the gaps they needed to address around resources, capacity, processes and governance. Specific focus areas for them included SEC and financial reporting, corporate governance, internal controls, people, processes and technology, and tax implications.
The approach
We developed an IPO Readiness Lab tailored specifically to our client’s needs. But due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, we had only six weeks to pilot our first virtual IPO Readiness Lab.
We essentially worked around the clock to assemble a response office to augment the client’s existing teams. Along the way, we helped to transition their business to a remote workforce and created playbooks to support the essential functions of their organization. The foundational elements of the crisis management plan we had built to that point enabled our client to share timely leadership communications with employees and customers.
The outcome
With the lab successfully completed, our client was ready to embark on the IPO journey.
Whereas they had initially felt uncertainty around what they needed to do, they now had an actionable roadmap to increase their readiness for going public. The immersive experience empowered them to align on clear organizational goals, prioritize activities, and enhance their ability to both meet their IPO timeline and operate effectively on day one.
