How to make a company public?

Question

How to make a company public?

Answer 1

If they have sold stock for the public to purchase otherwise it is a privately held corporation.

Answer 2

To become a public company usually means listing shares on a stock exchange so members of the public can buy them. This is referred to as an IPO or initial public offering. Companies work with Wall Street brokerages like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs etc... to drum up interest in the company and get institutions such as pension funds to buy shares before the company's stock begins trading in the open market or on the stock exchange. Once the stock begins trading, anyone can buy it and the price moves up and down as orders to buy and sell the stock come in.

At least this is the path, many larger companies follow.

Answer 3

There are a couple of ways -

1) File an S-1 registration statement with the SEC.  This is usually done through an IPO.

2) There is a limit to how large and with how many shareholders you can be and remain private.  A company wishing to "go public" without the scrutiny of an IPO can intentionally go over the limit.  At that point they will have to start complying with the 34 Act and file quarterly and annual reports with the SEC and will be considered a public company.

3) Merge with a public company or a public shell company.  There are entities out there that take a company public that essentially has no activity or real business.  You can then buy that company and merge your company into it and change its name to your name but retain its publicly traded status.  This process is called a reverse merger.

Answer 4

All the below answers r cool!