OpenIPO: How to Place a Bid Online

Bidding in WR Hambrecht + Co’s OpenIPO^® auction is an easy three-step process:

Step 1: Submitting An OpenIPO Auction Bid

Step 2: Reviewing, Changing or Cancelling Your Bid

Step 3: Allocation Notification

 
A few things you need to know before bidding:

• Institutional investors must have a User ID and Password provided by WR Hambrecht + Co or another firm participating in the offering to place an online bid.  If you have not received a User ID and Password, contact your salesperson or call 1-800-OpenIPO. You may enter,  or modify a bid only when the auction is “Open”.  Once the Auction is “Closed”, new bids cannot be entered and changes to bids cannot be made.  


• The minimum bid for shares in our OpenIPO auction is 100 shares, and there is no maximum bid size.*
     
• Read the prospectus before placing a bid. It will provide important information about the issuing company and information about bidding, pricing and the distribution process.  


• For other questions refer to our FAQ page or call toll free 1-800-673-6476.

1) Submitting an OpenIPO Auction Bid

• Institutional investors should log in at www.openipo.com/institutions  with their User ID and Password.


• On the Current Auctions page, the user then clicks “Enter Auction” next to the auction in which he’d like to bid.  A Participation Agreement will be displayed.  In order to place a bid electronically, the user must accept the terms of this agreement and click “Continue”.


• On the Your Current Bids page, the user may view his bids in the auction.  To add one or multiple bids, the user should click on Your Bidding Worksheet and then “Add another Bid”, specifying a bid size and a bid price.  After each entry, the user should click “Save”.  (Note: Saving a bid does not enter it in the auction. The Bidding Worksheet must still be Submitted and Confirmed as described below.)


• Once the bidding worksheet has been completed, the user should click “Submit All Bids”. He will then be taken to the Bid Confirmation page.  By clicking, “Yes, confirm all my bids”, all of the entries on the bidding worksheet will be entered into the auction.  (Note: a summary will be shown to the user which says, “If the public offering price of the auction is $’x’ or lower, you may be awarded a total allocation of up to ‘y’ shares.”  ‘x’ will be the lowest price in the user’s bid series and ‘y’ will be the total of all bid quantities entered.)

2) Reviewing, Changing or Cancelling a Bid

• The user selects the appropriate auction on the Current Auctions page and clicks “Enter Auction”. The user will be taken to the Your Current Bids page where the individual bids, their status and a summary of those bids will be displayed for the user’s review.


• Should the user desire to change a bid, click on Your Bidding Worksheet. Next, the user selects the bid to modify and clicks “Edit” on that line. The user makes the desired changes in the appropriate fields and clicks “Save”.  To enter those worksheet changes in the auction, the user clicks “Submit All Bids” and then on the Bid Confirmation page, clicks “Yes, confirm all my bids”.


• If the user would like to cancel a bid, he proceeds to Your Bidding Worksheet, finds the appropriate bid line and then clicks on “remove”.  To ensure the worksheet changes are reflected in the auction and the bid is canceled, the user must “Submit All Bids” and on the Bid Confirmation page, clicks ‘Yes, confirm all my bids”.

     3)  Allocation Notification

• Once an auction has been priced, users will be notified that allocations have been published.  They should then log in to the Bidding Interface with User ID and Password, select the appropriate auction and click “Enter Auction”.  The users allocation will be displayed.  OpenIPO allocations are awarded to bids that are above the Offering Price and calculated on a pro-rata basis.  For more information on the determination of pricing and the allocation mechanism, see the prospectus for the offering.

 

 

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WRH+Co reserves the right to reject bids that it deems manipulative or disruptive in order to facilitate the orderly completion of an offering, and it reserves the right, in exceptional circumstances, to alter the method of allocation as it deems necessary to ensure a fair and orderly distribution of the issuing company’s shares. For example, large orders may be reduced to ensure a public distribution, and bids may be rejected or reduced based on eligibility or creditworthiness criteria. In addition, WRH+Co may reject or reduce a bid by a prospective investor who has engaged in practices that could have a manipulative, disruptive or otherwise adverse effect on an offering.