IPOready 2019/2020 Module 1: Recap
This month, we hosted the first module for the latest cohort of IPOready participants. All of the inductions are over and now the real learning begins! This module lasted two full days and focused on leadership, corporate governance and perfecting your equity pitch.
Below is a quick recap of some of the key insights shared with participants.
Speaker 1: Dermot Crowley, Deputy CEO of Dalata Hotel Group plc
To open up the morning, Dermot Crowley, Deputy CEO of Dalata walked the participants through their journey, from its recession-era roots when Dalata managed a handful of distressed hotels on behalf of receivers, to the incredible success story of today with a portfolio of 30 owned hotels, 10 leased hotels and 3 management contracts with a total of 9,046 bedrooms.
The inspirational journey demonstrated that, even in the worst recession of a generation, there is always an opportunity. Opportunity, like luck, is simply what happens when timing meets preparation- and Dalata seem to always be prepared for anything!
Dermot also shared the Dalata financing journey and how they used their stock market listing to accelerate their growth story of acquiring and building hotels. Dalata listed on Euronext Growth raising €265m with a market cap of €305m in March 2014; raised €55m the following December (alongside €280m of debt) and €160m October 2015 (alongside €90m of debt). In June 2016 they moved to the regulated market and now have a market cap of c.€1bn.
Dermot provided insights into their investor relations strategy and the key success factors that enabled them to raise their equity financing. He also noted the benefits of being a listed company in terms of speed to raise money, lower debt financing costs and the value of the plc status when negotiating long term leasehold agreements.
Speaker 2: James Muldowney, North Shore Advisors
James shared his insights on how to build a robust strategy for life as a listed company by maintaining a solid structure, being engaging, and perhaps most importantly, staying true to your established vision. We looked at some case studies for plc growth strategies and attracting external stakeholders.
Speaker 3: Susannah Gerner, Emperor
Susannah emphasized how important an aligned narrative is for a company on a growth trajectory, seeking investment or preparing to IPO. The added transparency and scrutiny that will bring, means that the ability to clearly articulate your purpose is more important than ever.
And once you have all aspects defined and articulated you are ready to communicate your story — here are her five top tips for doing so:
1. Be transparent: Communicate the steps being taken to make a positive and sustainable impact
2. Be accessible and engaging: Connect readers to your narrative through intelligent design
3. Be consistent: To all your audiences across all channels
4. Be inclusive: Evidence value creation for all stakeholders
5. Be 365: See communication as an all year round exercise, not a programme of projects
“Business transparency will only continue to grow and your corporate narrative is your most valuable communication tool. Take ownership of it and use it to drive your business forward.”
Speaker 4: Barry McLoughlin, The Communications Clinic
While it is often said that the after-lunch slot is the toughest for presenters, the afternoon slump proved no match to Barry’s exquisitely engaging presentation skills! As Barry waltzed around the conference room, he fired out nuggets of wisdom that were essential learnings for anyone that ever has to stand up in front of a crowd — which all of our executive participants do; a lot!
He used real-life examples to bring points to life and invited questions from participants about their own presentation vulnerabilities. Among the many, many gems of wisdom he provided, the following got the biggest laugh of the day:
“If you don’t know the answer to a question, there are two things you can do:
1. Tell them you don’t know the answer and will get back to them
2. or prove you don’t know the answer by trying to answer it anyway and failing! (and losing your credibility in the process)”
Speakers 5 & 6: David Kearney, Goodbody & Robert Stokes, Heights Capital
To conclude Day 1 of module 1, we heard from David Kearney (Head of Corporate Broking, Goodbody), and then Robert Stokes (Heights Capital) on getting your equity pitch right.
David highlighted how the equity story is critical to IPO success and how the preparation of it can never start early enough! He encouraged participants to put the work in now — considering the equity story early will:
· Identify the gaps in message and substance
· Enhance the ability to deal with investor challenge
· Allow issues to be addressed pre IPO
“It’s your story…you need to own it”
Robert shared his tips for meeting with investors, the importance of a good pitch and the five things he looks for when investing in a company on IPO. He candidly shared some of his favourite questions and absolute red flags so no excuse for this group not being investor ready!
“Be flexible — don’t be attached to your slide deck.”
*Dinner Speaker*: Brian Caulfield
Our first dinner speaker of this year’s programme was Brian Caulfield, Venture Partner at Draper Esprit, and co-founder of Scale Ireland, an advocacy group for Irish entrepreneurship. Brian has captured the key points of his speech in a guest blog here.
DAY 2
Speaker 7: Ros O’Shea, Acorn Governance
As the first presenter on the second day of IPOready Module 1, Ros brought in a strong positive energy and showed the attendees how to lead with integrity, actively comparing case studies and using her own experience to drive home the essential point:
“Be authentic and humble, know your stuff and be on point. Always consider the culture of your enterprise and don’t be afraid to bring issues into the narrative to stay true to your aim.”
Speaker 8: Dr Margaret Cullen, Institute of Bankers
Margaret gave the participants some useful insights into executive remuneration and incentives and how to ensure alignment with investor expectations. Remuneration is a hot topic in today’s world and is a very valuable corporate governance mechanism. The correct structure of remuneration packages is an important tool in every company in order to attract and retain the right people and incentivise them to achieve company objectives.
“Lead from the Boardroom. You need to remunerate for the culture that you want”.
Speaker 9: Michael Davis, Aon Insurance
Michael presented on the perils and privileges of directorship, giving the participants a real taste of what liability is and a knowledgeable lesson on the need for a deep understanding of insurances:
“By raising capital from the public, a company is opening up potential liabilities which are closely scrutinised by regulators. Investors who base their investments decisions on a prospectus or a roadshow may claim the full value of their loss if the information supplied is proven wrong.”
Speaker 10: Brid Horan, Balance for Better Business
Brid made a strong case during her presentation, sparking active discussions and bringing the participants together in debate. Her core message, finding balance for better business practices, explained clearly the need for parity and diversity in ideas and people. She showed the audience how to develop a stronger action plan and how to broaden their research:
“Diversity is already here, it may not be evenly distributed, seen or understood, but it is here. Make use of it.”
Speaker 11: Melanie Farrell, FTI Consulting
Melanie discussed the varying underlying themes of corporate governance and explaining the changing face of market engagement. The use of real-life cases highlighted the evolving focus of governance today.
She pointed to the needed values to build a solid company in the current environment and reflected on the core need for engagement:
“Investor engagement enhances a company’s corporate reputation and general market standing, provides shareholders with greater scope to act as stewards of a company and provides greater insight into investor views and helps companies ‘predict the future’ on potential issues.”
Speaker 12: Lorna Conn, CFO, CPL Resources plc
Lorna gave an insightful session linking the topics of governance and strategy. She gave many practical examples of the role of the CPL board in all elements of their corporate strategy and the links between it and their vision, purpose and equity story. She shared the CPL story, their experience listed on the public markets for the past 20 years (she is a big fan) and how integral management are to the implementation of strategy.
“Simplicity of message — it must mean something to everyone”.
Stay tuned for more updates through this year’s IPOready programme. Module 2 takes place in Mid-November.
And for any queries, please email IPOready@euronext.com or see Euronext.com/IPOready.
