Early Release for Lockups

Lockups, agreements that restrict the ability of insiders to sell stock in an IPO, have traditionally lasted for 180 days after the IPO. Recently, lockup provisions have been shortened for many IPOs. In fact, the lockup period for ExactTarget was only 7 days after the IPO. One reason may be an increase in fees for the underwriter. The lead IPO underwriter is almost always the underwriter on the secondary offering from the lockup shares if the secondary offering is less than 180 days from the IPO. After 180 days, the underwriter for the secondary offering is up for grabs.