At that point, Goldman Sachs,the firm's lead manager, delayed the deal for a while and then restarted the IPO when the situation quieted down. One vital piece to the entire offering process is the road show component. The road show allows the underwriters to present their case for the company and lure potential institutions to the table. In a road show, the investment banks underwriting a deal go around the country promoting a new stock. The only people allowed to attend are high net-worth individuals and institutions that play with enormous money to invest.
Underwriters can determine how to price the IPO by the demand evidenced from the road shows.
When a company files a prospective deal, it usually lists a maximum dollar amount the deal looks to raise and when the road shows begin, the deal is amended to include shares and a proposed range. At this point, the lead banker invites other banks into the selling portion of the deal. This part of the underwriting team is not guaranteed shares, but could receive an allocation if stock becomes available. These banks are not listed on the preliminary prospectus, and when they do receive an allocation, they generally get far fewer shares than the main underwriters. Their identities are only made public in the final prospectus.