Why companies leave the appointment of a chairman until the last minute of an IPO is a mystery. It’s the key hire for a business, greatly enhancing the prospect of success as the chairman is tasked with building an effective board, coaching the senior management team and calling on years of experience to ensure the story a company sells to the market is both compelling and real.
“A company has to figure out what it wants in a chair,” says Stephen Davis, Criticaleye Thought Leader and Associate Director and Senior Fellow of Harvard Law School Programs on Corporate Governance and Institutional Investors. “The decision should be a part of the ordinary process of planning an IPO but frankly it’s usually an afterthought or comes late in the process.”
As IPO activity picks up, it’ll be interesting to see if the new issues have learned from the mistakes of their predecessors. John Allan, Chairman of Dixons Retail and global card processing company WorldPay, says: “It could easily take a year for a chairman or chairman designate – as he doesn’t necessarily need to be identified in the role of chairman straight away – to build a public company board. If it’s going to be compliant, it should be headed towards a majority of independent non-executive directors whereas a typical private company often doesn’t have any.”
There is plenty for an incoming chair to put in place, assess and, where necessary, fix. David Vaughan, UK&I Head of IPOs at Big Four firm Ernst & Young, says that “the task for the chairman is to set the tone at the top and to say what you want the organisation to be, establishing good governance and making sure the business has the right corporate reputation in its community”.
Chip Goodyear, Non-executive Director of oil and gas concern Anadarko, says: “The chairman will need to have a collegiate personality and be somebody who can work well with a board. My view is you do want a board who will be able to challenge management but you want it to be done in a constructive way; somebody who can bring that together is very valuable. You also want somebody who is not trying to be CEO and is comfortable in the role of chairman.”
There will be sectors where industry know-how is desirable, such as defence, financial services and oil and gas, but essentially it’s the knowledge and gravitas garnered from a stellar executive career, followed by being a seasoned Plc NED, that count the most. Jamie Pike, Non-executive Chairman of plastics manufacturer RPC Group, comments: “In general, I would say chairmen are fairly interchangeable but there are special industries where a lack of knowledge could frankly prove pretty risky. You would certainly want the chairman to have Plc experience, such as dealing with the institutional investors.”
Debbie Hewitt, Non-executive Chairman of Moss Bros, comments: “As well as complementing the executive team, the experience of the chair probably needs to reflect the timing of the IPO. The closer the IPO the more important his/her industry knowledge is. If it is some way off, an experienced chairman will have the time and capability to get to know a sector. No matter what the timing, the City and institutional investor experience are vital.”
It’s categorically not a role for the uninitiated NED, even if they are a big name. “You need an excellent board and the chairman has to make sure the governance is absolutely right,” says Dame Helen Alexander, Non-executive Chairman of media company UBM. “The last thing an IPO needs to focus on is the make-up of the board or the quality of governance. The selling process should be about the business – potential shareholders shouldn’t need to ask about compliance.”
Built to last
The chairman will have to decide if the management team, particularly the CEO and CFO, are fit to take a company public. Mike Turner, Non-executive Chairman at engineering concern GKN, says: “In the first three months, you should be comfortable with whether the CEO and CFO are up to leading the business but equally important is to get a sense of whether they can convince the City.
“They will have to spend a lot of time going round the City, which is something you don’t do in a private company, and they will need to be convincing about the strategy of the business and its future.”
If they do have what it takes, the chairman ought to prep them for investor roadshows and what to expect once public. Chip says: “For the chairman, there is always an element of coaching of the senior leadership team. But with regard to the public side, particularly if the chairman has had that experience, being a counsel to the management team would certainly be an important thing.”
Remuneration will have to be examined via the hire of an excellent Remco Chair together with the recruitment of an Audit Committee Chair, along with succession planning and an assessment of the quality of the people in the organisation. “It is very important that the chairman goes round the senior management team, especially at the executive committee level, to see what it’s like and that there is good bench strength,” says Mike. “You need to know what talent is available below the level of the CEO and CFO.”
The quality of the advisors has to be watched too. According to Helen, if a chairman comes in and they’re not happy with those already appointed, he/she should have the power of veto to bring in ones who are of the right calibre.
This is where reputation and prior knowledge make a difference. “A chairman has to understand the capital markets and listed vehicles and it certainly helps to have strong contacts and a network of tried and trusted advisors,” says Debbie.
It means treading a fine line as a non-executive. “It’s helpful if the chairman does know how to communicate and deal with advisors, brokers and investment banks, especially if it’s a company where the CEO doesn’t have much experience… Again, it’s important that they’re not seen to be able to try and lead the company,” says Chip.
Behind the scenes, the pricing of the business will be sense-checked too. A canny chairman will figure out who might profit by shorting on the IPO, making it difficult for game players to mess around with the stock but at the same time making sure the investor mix will generate enough liquidity.
Jamie says: “Liquidity in markets is very important. Therefore, if you’re buying and selling, you need people who will be selling the day after they’ve bought shares on flotation. I had this drummed into me during an IPO some years ago as it’s easy to get on your high horse but the market does need liquidity and that means buyers and sellers…
“What people often fail to understand is that when you float a business you are selling it and bringing new owners in; some of them may be short term while others may be longer but they do have rights. You cannot mess the market around and these owners must be taken into account, meaning their needs and objectives are factored in to how you run the business.”
It will vary on a case-by-case basis, but the chairman of an IPO will have to get their hands dirty if the Prospectus is to be signed with confidence. Stephen says: “The chair coming into a new public company has to exercise different skills than one joining an on-going public company, since for the latter you don’t have to re-invent everything.”
Many chairmen swear by the recruitment of a company secretary as a safe pair of hands to deal with governance and risk management. The run-up to an IPO is frenzied, intense and reputations that have been established over the years can be decimated in a flash if it goes belly up.
That’s why you spend time finding the right chairman and bring them in early.
