---
title: "We Were Driving To Close Our IPO When It Was Pulled — Here’s How I Helped Save The Deal And Close A $40 Million Gap Overnight"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/b90376ff-d732-48ad-8093-0e52aa615d52
source: "Entrepreneur Franchise"
original_url: https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/we-were-driving-to-close-our-ipo-when-it-was-pulled-heres-how-i-helped-save-the-deal-and-close-a-40-million-gap-overnight
author: "Brendan Keegan"
category: "Finance"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2026-06-26T19:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T13:18:26.176Z
image: https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/business-deal-ipo-lessons-0626_g2281537577.jpg
---

# We Were Driving To Close Our IPO When It Was Pulled — Here’s How I Helped Save The Deal And Close A $40 Million Gap Overnight

**TL;DR:** A private equity-backed brand executive recounts saving an IPO deal after institutional demand fell $40 million short of the required valuation. The executive helped close the gap overnight through coordinated tradeoffs across stakeholders.

*By Brendan Keegan, originally published in Entrepreneur Franchise on 2026-06-26. [Read the original](https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/we-were-driving-to-close-our-ipo-when-it-was-pulled-heres-how-i-helped-save-the-deal-and-close-a-40-million-gap-overnight).*

## Key facts

- Leadership is revealed not during smooth execution but in the moments after collapse when someone stays behind to rebuild alignment and drive outcomes under pressure.
- Complex deals are rarely saved by one decision; they are preserved through rapid, coordinated tradeoffs across stakeholders when clarity replaces silence.
- cities. 12 days. Two weeks aboard a Gulfstream with our chairman, CFO and investment banking team on a global roadshow that seemed all but complete.
- The models had been built and stress-tested long before we landed in New York for the final meeting. Investors were engaged. Demand was strong. People were already talking about the closing dinner as if the deal was done. What none of us had modeled was the phone call that came at 3:30 p.m. while we were still in a limo heading down Park Avenue.
- The pricing desk told us the IPO hadn’t priced.
- Within minutes, the PE firm’s managing director made the decision. The IPO was off. The company would revert to a private sale. That was the price they had agreed to, and they weren’t moving. Then the line went dead.
- ## When the room empties
- What happened next taught me more about leadership than the entire roadshow.

## Story

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

## Entities

- Entrepreneur (publication)
- private equity (topic)
- new york (location)
- Finance (sector)
- leadership (topic)
- Entrepreneur Franchise (publication)
- ipo deal (topic)
- Gulfstream (company)
- Park Avenue (location)
- stakeholder negotiation (topic)

---
Originally reported by Brendan Keegan, Entrepreneur Franchise (https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/we-were-driving-to-close-our-ipo-when-it-was-pulled-heres-how-i-helped-save-the-deal-and-close-a-40-million-gap-overnight). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/b90376ff-d732-48ad-8093-0e52aa615d52).