Just as HOV lanes were created to ease the commuting burden for those who meet certain requirements, the recently enacted Jumpstart Our Business Startups (“JOBS”) Act created the “IPO On-Ramp” to ease the burden of becoming and being a public company. To hop on the ramp, all you have to do is meet certain requirements, and unlike HOV lane limitations, the requirements are not very restrictive. You just need to be an “Emerging Growth Company.”

In this alert, we explore what it means to be an “Emerging Growth Company”; the benefits of the “IPO On-Ramp”; and the benefits from the JOBS Act once you become a public company. The JOBS Act, however, does more than just create the “IPO On-Ramp” – it restructures much of the landscape for raising private capital as well. If you would like to learn more about the JOBS Act see our Client Alert dated April 5, 2012.