When you hear that a company is “going public,” it means that they are going to allow investors to buy shares. Up until that point, the business was privately owned. That doesn’t mean there weren’t investors, but they were private investors who were hand-picked. Now, the company is going to put out an IPO (initial public offering) so that anyone can buy stock.
This is often a sign that a company has seen sustained success. They’re going public in part because people will want to invest. But what are some of the advantages of doing this, rather than staying as a private business?
An IPO generates capital
The biggest advantage is that the IPO generates capital when people invest, and the company can then take the money that was invested and use it in numerous ways. Often, they do this to expand into new areas or simply to expand the scope of what they’re already doing. The influx of cash makes this possible without having to take on more loans and business debt.
Public awareness tends to go up
A fringe benefit is that a company going public is often highly publicized. Not only does this make interested investors think about it more, but it raises general awareness of the company with the public at large. This can help not only to draw more investors but will also help to increase sales. A company may literally begin to sell more products and services because they’re going public, thus pushing the value of the new stock up.
What steps will you take?
Needless to say, this is a very complex process with a lot of regulations that must be followed. Make sure you know exactly what steps to take to make sure that you are following all of the proper legal requirements as you move forward.