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Going public vs selling to private equity: which is better?
If you have five to ten years of fight left, going public is usually the better way to build value: private companies sell to private equity at a modest multiple of earnings, and you leave a tremendous amount of money on the table. If you are exhausted and done with the business and the industry, do what you need to. Selling may be the right answer.
Joel Arberman, Meraki Partners · Reviewed October 2026. Based on 17 companies taken public since 1999: 11 by direct listing, 4 by reverse merger and 2 by IPO.
Why do public companies get higher valuations?
A public company has a stock with a visible price, audited numbers, access to capital and a currency for acquisitions. Investors pay for growth and liquidity. A private equity buyer pays for today's earnings, at a price that leaves room for its own return.
What do you give up selling to private equity?
Control, upside and usually your role. Many deals pay part of the price over time or keep a minority stake for the seller, so you still depend on the buyer's plan. The second bite only comes if the buyer's plan works.
What do you give up by going public?
Privacy, some time and money. Results are public, and being public costs money every year: about $300,000 to $500,000 for an early-stage OTC company. See the ongoing costs. In exchange you keep control and the upside.
Can I go public now and sell later?
Yes. Building value as a public company and then selling, merging or bringing in a partner is a common path. See going public before selling.
Who is going public right for?
A growth-minded owner with a profitable business, a plan to grow, often through acquisitions, and the energy to see it through. If that's you, going public lets you scale what you have built into something far more valuable than you could as a private company.
Related questions
Want to talk it through?
Tell us where you are, and we’ll set up a first conversation about whether going public belongs in your plan and what it would take. If it isn’t right for you, we’ll say so.