Ep 6: Going Public: IPOs, Early Employee Liquidity & More with Ben Cohen and Brittany Ruiz

Prosperity at Work

Last year was a record year for IPOs. According to data from Nasdaq, there was over 1,000 new listings in 2021 alone, and an 85% increase in capital raised last year compared to 2020. Although 50% of this capital was fueled by SPACs, it was still a standout year, beating records last seen during the dot-com bubble.

These are topics that no doubt need to be tackled by experts, so to help us simplify this complex subject are Ben Cohen and Brittany Ruiz, who are both partners at Latham and Watkins.

Ben is a nationally recognized corporate lawyer who handles a broad array of high-profile and innovative capital markets, as well as other financial transactions including IPOs, direct listings and SPACs.

Brittany represents issuers and underwriters in complex, high-profile equity and debt offerings, and she handles transactions on behalf of globally recognized brands, major investment banks, and private equity firms. She also has vast experience helping companies to go public.

TOPICS WE DISCUSSED INCLUDE

● Major types of routes to going public and/or providing liquidity to employees

● Review of the growing call for early liquidity

● The Pros and Cons of Direct Listing

● What the ramp-up to direct listing entails

● Early lockup releases

● And some key lessons

CONTACT AND RELEVANT LINKS

Ben Cohen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-j-cohen/
Brittany Ruiz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-ruiz-3929858/
Blog post: https://www.globalshares.com/academy/ipo-vs-direct-listing-what-you-need-to-know/