Difference between an Offer Document, Red Herring Prospectus, Prospectus and an Abridged Prospectus.

A company needs to issue different types of prospectus to raise capital through IPO at different stages. These include offer documents, DRHP, RHP, abridged prospectus, and more. The difference between these terms is given below.

Difference Between An Offer Document Red Herring Prospectus A Prospectus And An Abridged Prospectus

Offer Document is the primary document or the first step in the issue of securities through an IPO. It has to be filed with SEBI at least 21 days prior to filing the document with the Registrar of Companies or the stock exchanges. This document will remain in the public domain on the website of EBI to invite public comments on the same.

Red Herring Prospectus – The Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) is the document that is filed by the company with SEBI and is used in case of a book built issue. This document contains all the final details of the IPO except the price or the number of shares that are being offered in the IPO after incorporating all the changes as suggested by SEBI.

Prospectus – A prospectus is to be filed by the company with the ROC in case of a public issue and contains all the relevant information of the company including the number of shares price at which they are being offered under the IPO. in case of a fixed price IPO, this document is filed before the issue opens and it is to be filed post closure of the issue in case of a book built IPO.

Abridged Prospectus – This is the comprehensive version of the prospectus or the offer document that is to be provided along with the application form and contains all the salient features of the offer and the company.