Planet Copias Case

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Background Planet Copias & Imagem, a retail document center chain headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal was founded by three entrepreneurs: Michael Melloy, Pascal Monteiro de Barros, and Luis Quartin Bastos. Planet focused on the creation, design, reproduction, and distribution of documents for students, businesses, and government agencies. The company had successfully established five document centers which were part of a “cluster” strategy which was comprised of a small store, two standard-size stores, a megastore, and a production center. In March 1996, the founders reflected on their growth goals for the firm, and began to plan the financing program that would help them achieve those goals. The main goal of the firm was to become the dominant retail document center chain. To achieve this, the founders wanted to have a total of 100 megastores in five years. The founders ideally wanted to take Planet public by 1999 (but no later than 2002) in an international public offering on American and European exchanges. While they were uncertain about the timing of an IPO and knew that it would be dependent on market opportunities, they believed it would help monetize their sweat equity in the firm as well as compensate them for the risks they had taken (Bruner, 1999). Advantages of Going Public There are many advantages for a firm to go public which include: 1. Increases liquidity and allows founders to harvest their wealth. The stock of a private, or closely held, corporation is illiquid. It may be hard for one of the owners who wants to sell some shares to find a ready buyer, and even if a buyer is located, there is no established price on which to base the transaction. 2. Permits founders to diversify. As a company grows and becomes more valuable, its founders often have most of their wealth tied up in the company. By selling some of their stock in a public

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