Why companies want to go public?

We say we buy stocks or shares of a public listed company, but do we know why would a company want to go public?

So, why would a company want to go public? Why would they want to go through all the procedures and restrictions once they go public? Well, one of the reasons could be to raise a large amount of money for whatever purpose, for company expansion or some mega-projects. Now, there are a few ways out there for them to raise money, one is to loan form the bank, or to 'get' from the public.

Notice that I use the word ‘get'. It is not a typing mistake... When I say the company ‘get’ the money from the public, it means the company is going public and by offering shares. Of course there are rules and regulations that the company needs to follow.

Now, since the company is gong to get listed, they need to offer their shares to the public for the first time. They will go through a process called “Initial Price Offering (IPO). It is like offering their shares at a discounted price to the public because the price will normally be lower than the market price.

How much can they raise? That will depend on how much shares are offered. Just imagine, if they offer one million units of shares at RM1 a unit, they can actually raise RM1 million. And the best part is, they never need to return that money… That is why I say they practically ‘get’ the money from the public.

So if they can just get money from the public, what does the public get in return? Why would we want to buy their shares? How do we make or loose money then? Haha… Got lots of question? They will be revealed in the coming postings…

To be continued….