Re-registration of private company as public

Introduction

Since the inception of company registration as a part of Company Law the regulations involved have never remained static . In fact development and evolution have been hallmarks of the legal aspect of company registration , and as such , clauses and acts have been continually modified or added to the body of company registration law One of the legacies of this continued evolution of Company Law has been the addition of new forms of company registrations . The Company Act 2006 cites four types of companies that now exist within the UK market . These

br company types are contained in the following list

Limited and Unlimited Liability Companies

Such companies in the UK are founded on the concept of a limitation (or lack thereof ) in the extent to which company officials should be held liable in the case of adverse developments . Several types exist , such as the limited company , whose limitations under the UK constitution come either by its members , or through guarantees or shares . If , however there are no limits placed on the extent to which officials might be made liable , then the company is considered an `unlimited company

Private and Public Companies

A private company is one owned by private individuals or other entities who have no market upon which to transfer or otherwise trade their stake in the company . In other words , a private company refers to any company whose shares have not been offered to the public at large . A public company is one that has been limited through stocks or guarantees , or through its possession of share capital

Companies having share capital and limited by guarantees

This represents a combination of the guarantee and share companies . Such a hybrid company is far from the norm , as difficulties exist in the formation of an entity that possesses such characteristics

Community Interest Companies

Part 2 of the Companies Act , companies limited by shares or guarantee and which do or do not possess capital from shares have the freedom to be formed as community interest companies

The ability of a company to go public is somewhat contingent on its registration status , and as a result , many companies often have to go through certain changes upon deciding to go public . Indeed , many companies also take the decision to re-register as a public company because of the perception of added registration benefits that are likely to accrue after changing its status

The different classes of companies represented above are required to perform according to a legislated and accepted protocol in to declare a new status . In fact , certain criteria must be met both before the formation of the company or before any change of status can be effected . This will focus primarily on the re-registration of the privately owned company as a public company . It will seek to offer insight into the factors that prompt such companies to go public and other factors that might act as deterrents

Why do companies go public

Many reasons exist to explain why companies go...