bookrunner

A bookrunner is the lead underwriter in a securities offering, typically an investment bank responsible for organizing and managing the underwriting process. In equity offerings such as initial public offerings and follow-on offerings, as well as certain debt offerings, the bookrunner oversees book-building, pricing, and coordination of the underwriting syndicate. The book refers to the record of demand from potential investors, and the bookrunner directs the collection and assessment of investor bids, roadshows, and marketing.

The bookrunner sets the offering parameters, leads negotiations with the issuer about terms, and determines the final offer price. It allocates shares to investors in consultation with co-managers or the syndicate as a whole. In deals with multiple underwriters, there may be one or more co-bookrunners, with the primary bookrunner serving as the main point of contact and providing leadership, while others support as senior managers or co-leads.

Compensation typically reflects the bookrunner’s central role in price discovery and book-building. The associated underwriting fee, or gross spread, is usually larger for the bookrunner than for other syndicate members, who receive selling concessions and management fees as part of the overall arrangement.

The concept applies across equity and debt offerings and is closely tied to the book-building process used to gauge demand and set terms before pricing. In fixed-price offerings or mandates with minimal or no book-building, the term bookrunner may be less central.