10.4.2. The Private Placement Agent
As they do in underwriting public offerings, investment bankers play an important role in the private placement process, with duties ranging from drafting documentation to identifying and vetting prospective investors. As previously mentioned, an investment banker playing an underwriter-like role in a private placement is called a private placement agent.
In a private placement, the ball begins rolling with the negotiation and execution of the placement agent agreement, a document setting out the terms of the arrangement between the issuer and the placement agent. The placement agent agreement is somewhat analogous to the Underwriting Agreement in a public offering.
The placement agent agreement usually specifies that t