Welcome to the inaugural issue of Orrick Technology IPO Insights, a quarterly publication highlighting trends in U.S. information technology company IPOs. We isolate technology companies in order to analyze and present concerns specific to them in the IPO process – we believe that lumping technology companies together with companies in the consumer and retail, manufacturing, life sciences, and other industries can muddy the water and lead to misguided conclusions about the issues that technology companies face.

Each issue of Orrick Technology IPO Insights will present data on the technology company IPOs for the most recent quarter and for the overall period since the 2008 Financial Crisis. We will also feature detailed analysis on one or two specific aspects of technology IPOs from partners in Orrick’s capital markets practice.

In this issue, Andy Thorpe, an Orrick partner who is one of the top IPO counsels to issuers, according to statistics from IPO Vital Signs, and who worked for many years for the SEC in the Office of Rulemaking within the Division of Corporation Finance, where he played a significant role in drafting many of the regulations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, explores differences in antitakeover measures between new public companies and more mature public companies. (You can find current and historical Antitakeover Defense data beginning on page 12 of the report.) Andy’s thoughts begin on page III.