There are three ways to go public:
- Initial Public Offering (IPO)
- Direct Public Offering (DPO)
- Reverse Merger

1. The initial public offering (ipo)

An initial public offering is one where an investment banking firm is involved in raising funds for the company going public. Generally, they will also be of value in after-market support and often by providing research coverage. While those are clear advantages, the problem is that the vast majority of companies will not meet the income, asset, revenue or capital requirement standards that many investment banking firms have. As a result, these companies need to opt for one of the other methods to go public.

2. The direct public offering (dpo)

The direct public offering is exactly the same as a traditional initial public offering, except that there is no investment banking firm involved in the process. The advantage is that any legitimate company can go public this way, and their success at becoming public will not depend on an investment banking firm, investor interest or ‘market-conditions’. Plus, this is the least expensive way to go  public!

3. The reverse merger

A reverse merger transaction involves a private company that wants to go public by merging into a company that is already publicly traded. The process simply involves identifying a publicly traded company with little or no operations and entering into a merger agreement with it. Of course, all of the legal and accounting requirements of a traditional IPO or DPO still must be satisfied and within a very short timeframe.

Elsewhere on this website, we have detailed why we do not think it is a good idea for the vast majority of companies to enter into this type of transaction, however, many companies feel it is their best or only option. The advantage: you can go public in a matter of days or weeks. But the disadvantages include the tremendous cash and stock cost, contingent liabilities and more.

Regardless of the path you select, we can help you navigate through each of the steps to ensure a smooth, fast and easy transaction, while minimizing the costs and stress.