Public offering without listing

Okay, so you know how companies can sell things like toys, clothes, and food to people like us? Well, sometimes companies also sell little parts of themselves to people who want to invest in them and become part-owners of the company. This is called going public, and it usually means that the company lists itself on a stock exchange where people can buy and sell these little parts of the company, also called shares.


But, some companies can choose to go public without listing on a stock exchange. This means they can still sell these little parts of themselves, but they won't be available for people to buy and sell like they are in a stock exchange. Instead, the company will work with a private investment firm or bank to find people who want to invest in them and buy these shares directly from the company.


It's like if you had a toy that you wanted to sell, you could either put it up for sale in a big store where lots of people could see it and buy it, or you could leave it in your house and try to find someone who wants to buy it from you directly. Both ways work, but they have different advantages and disadvantages. Going public without listing lets companies sell their shares to specific people who they think will be good investors, but it can sometimes be harder to find those people than it is to sell shares on a stock exchange.