Skeena Intersects 16 GT Gold Over 4 7 Metres At Snip
The term “public company” can be defined in various ways. There are two commonly understood ways in which a company is considered public: first, the company’s securities trade on public markets; and second, the company discloses certain business and financial information regularly to the public.
In general, we use the term to refer to a company that has public reporting obligations. Companies are subject to public reporting requirements if they:
- Sell securities in a public offering (such as an initial public offering, or IPO;
- Allow their investor base to reach a certain size, which triggers public reporting obligations; OR
- Voluntarily register with us.
A private company also can become subject to public reporting requirements by merging with a public shell company. This process is called a reverse merger. As with any investment, investors should proceed with caution when considering whether to invest in reverse merger companies.
As mentioned, we view companies as public if they are subject to public reporting obligations. There are instances, however, where the securities of a company that does not regularly report business and financial information to the public are nonetheless traded on smaller public markets. Investing in these companies is riskier as there can be little public information to allow investors to make an informed investment decision.
