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Secondary Placing Success: How Smart Technology Reduces Risk and Accelerates Execution

  • robertmundy
  • Jul 3
  • 2 min read

Secondary placings occupy the sweet spot between IPO complexity and accelerated bookbuild speed. These 1-3 day transactions demand precise execution balancing thoroughness with efficiency. Yet most investment banks approach secondary placings with the same manual processes that create risks in other fundraising contexts—missing opportunities for competitive differentiation through superior execution.


Secondary Placing Dynamics


Secondary placings enable existing shareholders to monetize positions or listed companies to raise growth capital quickly. The condensed timeline requires:

  • Targeted market sounding: Approaching specific investors likely to participate

  • Selective wall-crossing: Bringing key accounts inside while managing restrictions

  • Price tension creation: Building competitive dynamics within tight windows

  • Clean documentation: Satisfying sellers, issuers, and regulators simultaneously

  • Swift settlement: Confirming allocations and managing trade confirmations


Success demands flawless orchestration across multiple workstreams. Manual processes introduce friction that delays execution and increases compliance risks.


The True Cost of Manual Secondary Placing Processes


Investment banks underestimate how manual processes impact secondary placing performance:


Extended timelines: Manual wall-crossing and documentation add 24-36 hours to execution. In volatile markets, this delay costs millions in pricing deterioration.


Limited reach: Compliance bandwidth constraints restrict investor outreach. Banks contact 20-30 accounts manually versus 100+ with automation.


Allocation disputes: Incomplete documentation of investor indications creates post-transaction conflicts. Verbal orders lead to misunderstandings requiring management escalation.


Regulatory exposure: FCA reviews consistently identify secondary placing documentation gaps. Manual processes cannot capture the nuanced negotiations determining final allocations.


DealBridge Acceleration for Secondary Placings


DealBridge optimizes every aspect of secondary placing execution:


Intelligent investor targeting: AI-powered analytics identify optimal investors based on historical participation, current portfolios, and market conditions. Prioritized outreach maximizes hit rates.


Bulk wall-crossing workflows: Bring multiple investors inside simultaneously with automated consent tracking. Parallel processing compresses wall-crossing from hours to minutes.


Dynamic book building: Real-time dashboards display investor interest, enabling dynamic pricing decisions. Automated trade confirmations lock in orders immediately upon allocation.


Complete audit trails: Every interaction—from initial market sounding through final settlement—receives comprehensive documentation. Regulatory reviews find complete, organized records rather than scattered emails.


Proven Secondary Placing Results


DealBridge users report transformative improvements in secondary placing execution:

  • 50% increase in investor reach within same compliance bandwidth

  • 18-hour reduction in average execution time

  • 75% decrease in post-transaction queries from comprehensive documentation

  • 25 basis point improvement in pricing through accelerated execution


One global bank executed 23 secondary placings totaling £4.2 billion through DealBridge with zero compliance incidents—while reducing average execution time by a full trading day.


Building Franchise Value


Secondary placings represent recurring revenue opportunities for investment banks demonstrating superior execution. Issuers and selling shareholders gravitate toward banks with proven technology infrastructure ensuring rapid, compliant execution.


DealBridge creates sustainable competitive advantages by embedding best practices into repeatable workflows. Teams focus on investor relationships and pricing optimization rather than administrative compliance tasks.


Transform Your Secondary Placing Capabilities


The difference between good and great secondary placing execution lies in technology infrastructure. DealBridge provides the automation, intelligence, and compliance capabilities defining market leaders.


Ready to accelerate your secondary placing franchise? Contact DealBridge today to schedule a platform demonstration and discover how technology can transform your execution capabilities.

 
 
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