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While there are plenty of benefits to going public, there are also some downsides to being listed on a major stock exchange. Public companies must abide by strict government compliance and corporate government statutes and answer to shareholders and regulatory bodies. Plus they’re subject to the whims of the broader stock market on a regular basis.

So, public companies can opt to go private and delist from a public stock exchange. What happens when a public company goes private? Here’s what you need to know about that process.

What Is Going Private?

When a company goes from public to private, the company is delisted from a stock exchange and its shareholders can no longer trade their shares in a public market. It also means that a private company no longer has to abide by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. That legislation required publicly-traded companies to accommodate expansive and costly regulatory requirements, especially in the compliance risk management and financial reporting areas. (The legislation was created by lawmakers to help protect investors from fraudulent financial practices by corporations.)

Going private may also mean less pricing and financial stability, as private company shares typically have less liquidity than a public company traded on a stock exchange. That can leave a private company with fewer financing options to fund operations.

Going private also changes the way a company operates. Without public shareholders to satisfy, the company’s founders or owners can control both the firm’s business decisions and any shares of private stock. Private companies can consolidate power among one or a few owners. That can lead to quicker business decisions and a clear path to take advantage of new business opportunities.

By definition, a private company, or a company that has been “privatized”, may be owned by an individual or a group of individuals (i.e., a consortium) that also has a specific number of shareholders.

Unlike traditional stocks, investors in a private company do not purchase shares through a stock broker or through an online investment platform. Instead, investors purchase private equity shares from the company itself or from existing shareholders.

💡 Quick Tip: Before opening an investment account, know your investment objectives, time horizon, and risk tolerance. These fundamentals will help keep your strategy on track and with the aim of meeting your goals.

What Is Privatization?

Privatization is the opposite of an initial public offering. It’s the process by which a company goes from being a publicly traded company to being a private one. A private company may still offer shares of stock, but those shares aren’t available on public market exchanges. There’s no need to satisfy public shareholders and the company has less governmental oversight into its governance and documents.

(Note that privatization is also a term used to describe when a public or government organization switches to ownership by a private, non-governmental group.)

What Happens if You Own Shares of a Company That Goes Private?

If shareholders approve a tender offer to take a public company private, they’ll each receive a payment for the number of shares that they’re giving up. Typically, private investors pay a premium that exceeds the current share price and shareholders receive that money in exchange for giving up ownership in the company.

This is the opposite of IPO investing, in which the public buys stock in a newly listed company, and private owners have a chance to cash out.

💡 Recommended: Partner Buyout Financing

Why a Company May Go Private

Likely the biggest reason why a company would choose to go private are the costs associated with being a public company (largely to accommodate regulatory demands from local, state, and federal governments).

Those costs may include the following potential corporate budget challenges:

•   The legal, accounting, and compliance costs needed to accommodate company financial filings and associated corporate governance oversight obligations.

•   The costs needed to pay compliance, investor relations, and other staffing needs – or the hiring of third-party specialty firms to handle these obligations.

•   The costs associated with paying strict attention to company share price – a public company always has to keep its eye on maximizing its stock performance and on keeping shareholders satisfied with the firm’s stock performance.

In addition, going private enables companies to free up management and staff to turn their attention to firm financial growth, instead of regulatory and compliance issues or shareholder concerns. Some public companies struggle to invest for the long-term because they’re worried about meeting short-term targets to keep their stock price up.

Going private also enables companies to keep critical financial and operational data away out of the public record — and the hands of competitors. Privatization could also help companies avoid lawsuits from shareholders and curb some litigation risk.

How to Take a Company Private

Typically, companies that go private work with either a private-equity group or a private-equity firm pooling funds to “buy out” a public company’s entire amount of publicly-traded stock. This typically requires a group of investors since, in most cases, it takes an enormous amount of financial capital to buy out a company with hundreds of millions (or even billions) of dollars linked to its publicly-traded stock.

Often a consortium of private equity investors gets help financing with a privatization campaign from an investment bank or other large financial institution. The fund usually comes in the form of a massive loan — with interest — that the consortium can use to buy out a public company’s shares.

With the funding needed to close the deal on hand, the private equity consortium makes a tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares in the public company, which existing shareholders vote on. If approved, existing shareholders sell their stock to the private investors who become the new owners of the company.

The goal is that the private investors will take the gains accrued through stronger company revenues and rejuvenated stock, to pay down the investment banking loan, pay off any investment banking fees accrued, and begin managing the income and capital gains garnered from their investment in the company. While this can take some time, the process of going private is much less intensive than the IPO process.

Company executives, meanwhile, can focus on growing the company. In many instances, newly-minted private companies may roll out a new business plan and prospectus that firm executives can share with potential shareholders, hopefully bringing more capital into the company. Sometimes private owners will plan to IPO the business again in the future.

💡 Quick Tip: Keen to invest in an initial public offering, or IPO? Be sure to check with your brokerage about what’s required. Typically IPO stock is available only to eligible investors.

Pros and Cons of Going Private

Taking a company private has both benefits and drawbacks for the company.

The Pros

In addition to lower costs, there are several other advantages to delisting a company.

•   Establishing privacy. When a company goes public, it relinquishes the right to keep the company private. By taking a company private, it makes it easier to operate outside of the public eye.

•   Fewer shareholders. Public companies don’t have to deal with external company sources that may make life difficult for company executives and may result in a loss of operational independence. Once a company goes private, the founders or new owners retain full control over the business and have the last word on all company decisions.

•   A private company doesn’t have to deal with financial regulators. A private company doesn’t need to file financial disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other government regulatory bodies. While a private company may have to file an annual report with the state where it operates, the information is limited and financial information remains private.

The Cons

There are some disadvantages to taking a company private.

•   Capital funding challenges. When a company goes private, it loses the ability to raise funds through the publicly-traded financial markets, which can be an easy and efficient way to boost company revenues. Yet by privatizing the company, publicly-funded capital is no longer an option. Such companies may have to borrow funds from a bank or private lender, or sell stock based on a state’s specific regulatory requirements.

•   The owner may have more legal liability. Private companies, especially sole proprietorships or general partnerships, aren’t protected from legal actions or creditors. If a private company is successfully sued in court, the court can garnish the business owner’s personal assets if necessary.

•   More powerful shareholders. While there are not as many shareholders at a private company, new owners, such as venture capitalists or private equity funds, may have strong feelings about the operational business decisions, and as owners, they may have more power over seeing their wishes carried out.

The Takeaway

Going private can be an advantage for companies that want more control at the executive level, and no longer want their shares listed on a public exchange. However, taking a company private may impact the company’s bottom line as corporate financing options thin out when public shareholders can no longer buy the company’s stock.

If a company you own stock in goes private, you will no longer own shares in that company or be able to buy them through a traditional broker. For investors, having different types of assets in an investment portfolio may be helpful in case something happens to or changes with one of them.

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FAQ

Is it good for a public company to go private?

Going private can have benefits for a public company, including lower costs related to legal, accounting, and compliance obligations, as well as costs associated with maximizing stock performance and keeping shareholders happy. In addition, going private may allow a company’s staff to focus more fully on financial growth, and keep critical company data out of the public record (and the hands of competitors).

However, there are potential drawbacks as well. For instance, a company may face capital funding challenges once it goes private since it can no longer raise funds through publicly-traded financial markets.

What happens to my private shares when a company goes public?

Once a company goes public (typically done through a process called an IPO, or initial public offering), your private shares become public shares, and they become worth the public trading price of the shares.

How long does it take for a public company to be private?

How long it takes for a public company to become private depends on the time it takes to complete the steps involved. For instance, the company has to buy out all of its publicly-traded stock; it usually works with a group of private investors to do this since the process is costly. Once they have the founding secured, a tender offer is made to purchase all outstanding shares in the public company, which the existing shareholders vote on. If that is approved, the shareholders sell their stock to the owners of the company. How long all this takes generally depends on the company and the specific situation.

Photo credit: iStock/Olezzo

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