I think he needs to create a market and will need

I think he needs to create a market and will need a larger float than say 32-35M shares. They need institutional ownership so there needs to be more like 80-100M shares. So selling 40-80M shares with the ipo would allow for not needing the preferreds at all. However the filing of the S1 for NGIO preferreds means Joe wants to go that way and hold more shares in GNBT. However those preferreds are now an expense for NGIO with the dividends and will pull some valuation away from the common. Also GNBT share price may not reflect the full NGIO value of shares so selling some common I believe is a good idea. You know the saying, a bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush.

Disclaimer: Of course, all of this is my opinion and you should not make any investment decisions based on my opinion. I have not received any non-public information.