Raising equity for local SMEs, Investbx incorporates a stock market for West Midlands based companies.
Investbx is a virtual mechanism with local support from a West Midlands based team.
The mechanism enables Companies to release shares, in exchange for a portion of their equity, to a wide ranging audience of local and national investors.
Investbx will work with the company and its advisers from an early stage, assisting them through the admissions process to reduce effort, time and cost.
Working towards Admission
From the outset, each company will work with Investbx to understand whether such an offering is suitable for its stage of development. This phase of engagement attempts to ensure that the company appreciates how Investbx works and for Investbx to gauge if a company is qualified for, and well suited to, admission.
Throughout the whole process of engagement, Investbx makes use of feedback from selected investors, advisers and research providers who have knowledge of specific markets and sectors relevant to the company.
Should the company not already have retained advisers, they may approach a panel of West Midlands based professionals, which have met the strict criteria required.
The process of issuing shares in return for equity has been dramatically streamlined. In conjunction with a panel of local advisers, Investbx has developed a set of admission principles, template documents and disclosure requirements designed specifically for the smaller company.
The admissions process is much more straightforward for companies wishing to join Investbx, in order to establish a trading facility for their existing shares. All the documents required to join Investbx and raise equity will be completed by the company and their advisers using an extranet facility.
The admission document and initial research coverage will be available to potential investors through the Investbx website, at such time when a company enters the marketing phase. Investors will be able to apply for new issue shares directly online, or via financial intermediaries. Of course, throughout the engagement all information and findings remain in the strictest confidence.
Subsequent to Admission
Investbx uses an online auction-driven platform to stimulate liquidity in the shares of the company in the secondary market, which is established subsequent to the shares being admitted to trading.
An auction-driven platform is widely recognised to be a more appropriate mechanism for trading of stocks in smaller companies, matching buyers and sellers at a single price. This process eliminates the wide share price trading spread often seen with smaller company shares. Therefore, avoiding a significant additional cost for the investor.
After having joined the trading platform, Investbx requires each company to disclose information relating to their progress, including regular independent research.
Buy and sell orders received in between auctions will help give rise to an 'indicative price', showing what the shares would trade at were the auction to take place at that moment, rather than at the actual auction date.
