'Quasi-public' route in hard market times

Like the two ends of a seesaw, private placements of stock tend to go up as the availability of public financing goes down. But when buyers are reluctant to get on that ride, companies and their bankers look for creative ways to sweeten the pot.

A popular mechanism this time around is what we'll call, for lack of a better term, "quasi-public placements." These are deals sold like private placements, but with stock that is registered at the close of the deal or shortly thereafter. In traditional private placements, the stock is unregistered for a significant period of time...