An Initial Public Offering can take years. We only had weeks.
To deliver an effective antibody the entire world was waiting for, a young biotech company needed to scale its operations—fast.
The company was authorized to support the Canadian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The recognition was a big honor, and an even bigger challenge.
There was only one way to reach the scale they would need. An IPO.
The company is an expert in biotech, but to go public in the heavily regulated US, it would have to master the details of accounting, tax and SEC regulations. Experts trust experts, so this company looked for the smartest it could find. It chose Deloitte.
The IPO process takes immense effort and resources. Companies take years just to prepare the initial prospectus. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subject every single document to microscopic scrutiny. They can make or break a company.
“We showed up at a critical turning point. And we all really showed up as one Deloitte team.”
In Deloitte, lead Assurance Partner Shawn Lai put together a multidisciplinary team of experts for a 12-week sprint to prepare the client for its IPO filling. He worked diligently—and fast. He had to. In the world of IPOs, twelve weeks is nothing. Nothing at all.
Shawn and the client CFO, VP of Finance, and Controller formed a tight group on speed-dial.
Within Deloitte, anyone with deep knowledge of the biotech sector suddenly found themselves very popular. A core team of ten was drawn up from Audit & Assurance, Advisory, Financial Advisory and Tax & Legal. Within Deloitte Canada, word went out – if these people rang, you picked up the phone. This was COVID.
“Deloitte has been our right hand through this entire process.” said the client. “We are so grateful the team came on board and we look forward to their continued help and support as we continue on this journey.”
“We showed up at a critical turning point. And we all really showed up as one Deloitte team.” said Shawn Lai.
Twelve weeks from when we started the IPO listing went live and smashed records.
With that small matter dealt with, the company was now free to focus on the real enemy. The virus.
People who made this possible
