Public reporting company status is traditionally prestigious, increases access to capital, improves liquidity and enables more favorable financing terms and opportunities. Yet public reporting company status exposes companies to the glare of public scrutiny and burdensome compliance obligations, often before they are ready to shoulder those responsibilities and sometimes without raising much capital or increasing liquidity and financing opportunities appreciably. In the meantime, the private equity markets increasingly dwarf the public markets and provide the overwhelming amount of capital markets investment. This article addresses the question of when should companies go public, and when should they stay private.
Author: Owen D. Kurtin
This article was originally published on the website of Kurtin PLLC in October 2022.