Subscription

When companies go public, they often (but not always) offer shares for subscription before trading starts. For this purpose, they usually specify a price range. Within this range, investors can make a binding declaration of their intention to buy a certain number of shares. By specifying a price limit, they determine the maximum amount they are willing to pay. Occasionally, the company also opts for a fixed price procedure, in which case the price is known from the outset.

Depending on demand, the company sets the issue price before trading starts on the stock exchange and allocates the shares to investors at this price. On the one hand, the company wants to sell as many shares as possible, and on the other hand, it wants to achieve the highest possible price. If demand exceeds supply, the company can choose which groups of investors receive what percentage of the placement volume, which is called the number of shares issued.

Private investors can usually subscribe to shares through their custodian bank. However, not all new issues are always available. In particular, "attractive" IPOs with a lot of media attention are only offered at the banks in the syndicate that has been commissioned by the company to handle them.

An alternative is subscription via the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. This can be handled by any custodian bank that offers the Frankfurt trading venue (with a few exceptions that have blocked the service for their customers). During the subscription phase, you simply place a buy order with a limit. If your limit is too high or you don't get an allocation, don't worry. All orders are cancelled before trading starts.

Usually one or two days after the end of the subscription period, the shares start trading. Then the first stock exchange price is established in an IPO auction on Xetra and in parallel on the floor, rarely only in floor trading