“So where are we going to travel to on the roadshow?” – that’s usually one of the first questions a prospective IPO issuer will ask bankers pitching to lead its flotation. read

In this day and age, and amid continued volatile markets, for an IPO to succeed it’s pretty much a pre-requisite to secure cornerstone investors. Not only does their involvement considerably de-risks a transaction by parking away a big chunk of the shares on offer at an early stage; it also provides a high degree of confidence to other institutions – and to retail investors – to encourage them to subscribe to a deal that’s already been taken up by big, visible names. read