What happens if you are sued by an investor, and the plaintiff claims that you lied about the risks? In fact, he claims you said there was no risk. It’s five years after your Offering, and you don’t remember the conversation with the investor. The lawsuit requests a return of all investor money, and you are named personally in the lawsuit. You are in court, sitting on the witness stand. What is your defense?
In the Subscription Agreement in our Private Placement Memorandum that the investor must sign and return with his investment check, there is a statement that reads:
“Access to Information” The Subscriber represents that the Subscriber has been furnished by The Company, during the course of this transaction, with the PPM and all information regarding The Company that the Subscriber has requested or desired to know, has been afforded the opportunity to ask questions of and receive answers from duly authorized officers of The Company concerning the terms and conditions of the Private Placement, and has received any additional information that the Subscriber has requested. The Subscriber has relied solely upon the information provided by The Company in this Agreement in making the decision to invest in The Company Shares/Units. The Subscriber disclaims reliance on any other statements made or information provided by any person or entity in the course of the Subscriber’s consideration of the purchase of the Company Shares/Units.
This is the reason why you should present your potential investors with a Private Placement Memorandum.
You must provide each investor with “all material information” regarding investing in your company so they can decide whether to write you a check. The information in your ‘Private Placement Memorandum, aka ‘Offering Documents,’ aka ‘PPM,’ is the document you give each investor.
A business plan is not a private placement memorandum; however, the business plan should be included in the private placement memorandum. If you are preparing your own private placement memorandum, I recommend that you add your business plan to the offering document as an addendum. (See the main menu for a sample first page of a Private Placement Memorandum.)
Author’s Comment:
Our document is <> 93 pages without the business plan addendum.
Note: < This symbol means less than. > This symbol means greater than.