This is the 77th in a series of business tips from industry leaders that Enterprise Times has interviewed. Recently, I interviewed Bill Bruno, CEO of Celebrus. We spoke about his vision for Celebrus and how the company is embedding AI within its platform to help brands activate consumer data more efficiently and build stronger relationships faster.
Celebrus is a listed company on the London Stock Exchange. Bruno has experience in raising funds historically, and I asked him how the approach differs from a public company to a private one.
Raising funds for an acquisition
Bill Bruno first affirmed that Celebrus does not need to raise more funds. It has a good amount of cash in the bank and no debts. He answered the question in the context of raising funds for the acquisition that the firm is looking for.
“If we did raise funds, it would be, a combination of equity raise potentially. We’re not a super liquid business in terms of shares. We’re blessed with a lot of institutional investors that believe in the vision and hold. There’s always an opportunity when you explore an acquisition, of funding some of that by creating some room for new holders to enter the register. So that’s obviously something that we’re considering.
“In the private world, I’ve supported, and I’ve worked with some businesses that have done that. It’s very, very different. It’s a much different conversation, because when you’re a public company, everything is very straightforward, everything is audited, everything’s documented. If you want to know about the business and all the inner workings, it’s right there, plain as day.
“In the private sector, not so much. You’ve got to do a bit more digging, unless the company has put the forethought in to have their books in order and have things where they needed to be. Sometimes there’s a bit more legwork, I think, for VC firms and others to sort that out and figure out what it is that they’re really investing in.”
