MSNBC Can Broadcast Road Shows, SEC Says

Companies planning public stock or debt offerings will soon have a new tool for reaching the select group of institutional investors they prize most. The Securities and Exchange Commission last week approved a request for limited broadcast of so-called road shows, where company executives and underwriters make presentations promoting their securities offerings to big-time investors nationwide. The MSNBC joint venture created by Microsoft Corp. and General Electric Co.’s NBC television network won approval to broadcast road shows over its Private Financial Network and the Internet to some of its 27,000 broker-dealer and investment advisor subscribers. Securities laws prohibit companies and their underwriters from issuing any information on radio or TV about an offering that doesn’t conform to SEC guidelines for printed prospectuses. To gain SEC approval for the broadcasts, MSNBC promised it will restrict broadcasts to Private Financial Network subscribers and demand that they not copy the transmissions. It also said it will give a copy of the IPO prospectus to every viewer before transmission.