Corporate Governance, Stock Market and VC-法搜-中国法律信息搜索网

　　1. Initial Public Offerings
　　In an initial public offering the firm sells shares to members of the public for the first time. The VC will typically retain its shares at the date of the public offering, selling shares into the market in the months or years following the IPO. Alternatively, following the IPO the VC may dispose of its investment by making a dividend of investee firm shares to the fund''s owners. Despite the fact that the VC will not usually sell more than a small fraction of its shares at the time of the IPO (if any at all), exits effected by sales subsequent to the IPO are classified as IPO exits.
　　2. Acquisition Exits
　　The VC may also sell the entire firm to a third party, i.e. exit via as an acquisition. Typically, the buyer is a strategic acquiror ?a larger entity in the same or similar business to the acquired firm that wishes to meld the firm抯 product or technology with its own. Strategic acquisitions often involve the merger of two corporations with some prior contractual relationship, such as in the supply of inputs or the licensing of a particular technology.
　　This form of exit may be effected in a number of different ways. For example, the transaction may be structured as a sale of all the shares in return for cash, shares of the acquiror, or other assets. Alternatively, the transaction may be structured as a sale of the firm''s assets or as a merger between the investee firm and purchasing firm (or a subsidiary thereof).
　　3. Secondary Sales
　　In an exit effected by way of secondary sale, the VC will sell its shares to a third party ?typically a strategic acquiror, and in some cases another VC. A secondary sale differs from an acquisition exit in that only the shares of the VC are sold to the third party; the entrepreneur and other investors will retain their investments. Where the purchaser is a strategic acquiror, it will usually be seeking a window on the firm抯 technology, with a view to possibly effecting out a complete acquisition of the firm sometime in the future.