SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REQUESTING A RESERVATION FOR A SET OF EQUITY INSTRUMENTS BEING OFFERED
A method and system for the determination of optimal pricing and allocation of securities in an open, competitive environment. The method and system may also be used in developing pre-markets of other items that are difficult to price and allocate in a competitive manner, such as the underwriting/securitization of contracts for property; future revenue/earning streams from an asset and/or group of assets; underwritten insurance portfolios, intellectual property and other goods and services. The system of price optimization and allocation is accomplished by interactive feedback of information using a display and including competitive participation of individual members of the public (and/or their agents) or institutional buyers over a data network e.g., the Internet, uncovering the nature and identification of demand in a self-organizing fashion. Demand emerges through participants' interaction with the system and with each other, via a graphically-supported, interactive reservation process.
1 . A computer-implemented method for requesting one or more reservations for a set of equity instruments to be offered by an issuer for later sale comprising the steps of:
(a) transmitting, from one or more computers, to one or more servers a first request to obtain information relating to an equity instrument offering, the equity instrument offering comprises a plurality of units of an equity instrument offering of one or more types at one or more prices that are available for reservation, wherein
(i) each of the units of the equity instrument offering is intended to be offered as an equity instrument for later sale to potential equity instrument purchasers, and
(ii) for at least one of the types having at least one of the prices, a plurality of units is available for reservation;
(b) receiving, at the one or more computers from the one or more servers, at a first time, first status information comprising at least information that identify
(i) units of the equity instrument offering for each type at each price that are available for reservation as of the first time, including the type, price, and number of units available for reservation, and
(ii) one or more sets of units of the equity instrument offering that have been reserved as of the first time, including the type, price, and number of units that have been reserved;
(c) transmitting, from the one or more computers, to the one or more servers, a second request to reserve a first group of one or more of the units of the equity instrument offering; and
(d) receiving, at the one or more computers from the one or more servers, at a second time, second status information comprising at least information that identify
(i) units within said plurality of units of the equity instrument offering that are yet available for request for reservation as of the second time, including the type, price, and number of units available, and
(ii) one or more sets of units of the equity instrument offering that have been reserved, including the type, price, and number of units reserved as of the second time, wherein the one or more sets of units that have been reserved include at least a first set of units within the first group that were available for reservation.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving at the one or more computers from the one or more servers, at a third time, third status information comprising at least information that identify
(i) units within said plurality of units of the equity instrument offering that are yet still available for request for reservation as of the third time, including the type, price, and number of units available,
(ii) the one or more sets of units of the equity instrument offering that have been reserved, including the type, price, and number of units reserved as of the third time, wherein the one or more sets of units that have been reserved include at least the first set of units within the first group and a second set of units.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a threshold price for requests for reservations is set.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of units of a particular type of the equity instrument offering available at a particular price is limited to fewer units than the total number of units of the equity instrument offering.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the equity instruments, when offered for later sale, are comprising at least one of secondary offering equity instruments, shelf-offering equity instruments, international equity instruments, or convertible equity instruments.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more types are comprising at least one of options on equity instruments, warrants on equity instruments, a restricted set of equity instruments, overallotments of equity instruments, or equity instruments available for reservation by a predetermined investor class.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined investor class comprises one or more institutional investors.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined investor class comprises one or more retail investors.
9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the equity instruments for the predetermined investor class have a predetermined price.
10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the number of units of equity instruments for the predetermined investor class is fixed.
11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the equity instruments for the predetermined investor class have one or more prices calculated based on the prices of other reservations outside the predetermined investor class.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of units comprises all of the units of the first group.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of units comprises fewer than all of the units of the first group.