In addition to the inherent benefits of becoming public: access to more funding sources, higher valuation, and greater legitimacy that results in a slew of other benefits, APO’s offer a number of unique benefits:

• Shorter fund raising time. Rather than 18 months for an IPO, an APO can be completed in 9 to 24 weeks between 1/8th and 1/3rd the time.
• Better management of fund raising rounds. Because of the shorter lead time with APO’s, companies can manage fund raising rounds according to their specific needs.
• Lower upfront costs. An average APO costs about 1/3 that of an IPO.
• Reduced paperwork. There are internal audit rules and complicated audit mechanisms on the New York as well as Tel Aviv Stock Exchanges which are both time consuming and expensive. Not so with APO’s.
• Lower annual maintenance fees. On the Israeli and American Stock Exchanges, IPO annual maintenance fees can run as high as $.5 million. APO’s listed on the OTCBB run less than half.
• Greater confidentiality in the early stages of the process. No public disclosure until the entire transaction is completed.
• Greater business volume. Most companies that have taken this path have enjoyed greater business volume with State-side firms.