Prospectus, Statement in lieu of Prospectus

11/03/2020 1 By indiafreenotes

Section 30 of the Companies Act 2013 contains the provisions regarding the advertisement of the prospectus. This section states that when in any manner the advertisement of a prospectus is published, it is mandatory to specify the contents of the memorandum of the company regarding the object, member’s liabilities, amount of the company’s share capital, signatories and the number of shares subscribed by them and the capital structure of the company. Types of the prospectus as follows.

  • Red Herring Prospectus
  • Shelf Prospectus
  • Abridged prospectus
  • Deemed Prospectus

Shelf Prospectus

Shelf prospectus can be defined as a prospectus that has been issued by any public financial institution, company or bank for one or more issues of securities or class of securities as mentioned in the prospectus. When a shelf prospectus is issued then the issuer does not need to issue a separate prospectus for each offering, he can offer or sell securities without issuing any further prospectus.

The provisions related to shelf prospectus has been discussed under section 31 of the Companies Act, 2013.

The regulations are to be provided by the Securities and Exchange Board of India for any class or classes of companies that may file a shelf prospectus at the stage of the first offer of securities to the registrar.

The prospectus shall prescribe the validity period of the prospectus and it should be not be exceeding one year. This period commences from the opening date of the first offer of the securities. For any second or further offer, no separate prospectus is required.

While filing for a shelf prospectus, a company is required to file an information memorandum along with it.

Red herring prospectus

Red herring prospectus is the prospectus which lacks the complete particulars about the quantum of the price of the securities. A company may issue a red herring prospectus prior to the issue of prospectus when it is proposing to make an offer of securities.

This type of prospectus needs to be filed with the registrar at least three days prior to the opening of the subscription list or the offer. The obligations carried by a red herring prospectus are same as a prospectus. If there is any variation between a red herring prospectus and a prospectus then it should be highlighted in the prospectus as variations.

When the offer of securities closes then the prospectus has to state the total capital raised either raised by the way of debt or share capital. It also has to state the closing price of the securities. Any other details which have not been included in the prospectus need to be registered with the registrar and SEBI.

The applicant or subscriber has right under Section60B(7) to withdraw the application on any intimation of variation within 7 days of such intimation and the withdrawal should be communicated in writing.

Abridged Prospectus

The abridged prospectus is a summary of a prospectus filed before the registrar. It contains all the features of a prospectus. An abridged prospectus contains all the information of the prospectus in brief so that it should be convenient and quick for an investor to know all the useful information in short.

Section33(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 also states that when any form for the purchase of securities of a company is issued, it must be accompanied by an abridged prospectus.

It contains all the useful and materialistic information so that the investor can take a rational decision and it also reduces the cost of public issue of the capital as it is a short form of a prospectus.

Deemed Prospectus

A deemed prospectus has been stated under section 25(1) of the Companies Act, 2013.

When any company to offer securities for sale to the public, allots or agrees to allot securities, the document will be considered as a deemed prospectus through which the offer is made to the public for sale. The document is deemed to be a prospectus of a company for all purposes and all the provision of content and liabilities of a prospectus will be applied upon it.

In the case of SEBI v. Kunnamkulam Paper Mills Ltd., it was held by the court that where a rights issue is made to the existing members with a right to renounce in the favour of others, it becomes a deemed prospectus if the number of such others exceeds fifty.

The Statement in Lieu of Prospectus is a document filed with the Registrar of the Companies (ROC) when the company has not issued prospectus to the public for inviting them to subscribe for shares. The statement must contain the signatures of all the directors or their agents authorized in writing. It is similar to a prospectus but contains brief information. The Statement in Lieu of Prospectus needs to be filed with the registrar if the company does not issues prospectus or the company issued prospectus but because minimum subscription has not been received the company has not proceeded for the allotment of shares.