There are numerous benefits for a company when it decides to go public. The primary reason is that a value for the securities can be established, which increases the trust and visibility of the business, both in operations and in sales.

Additionally, going public is popular method to raise money for expansion and operations of the business, the investor-base of the company expands drastically along with an increased capital-raising opportunity when shares are traded in the public markets.

For existing investors and shareholders, this is a means to get liquidity for their shares and going public will provide them with an exit-strategy if required.

There are two ways for a comany to get listed on a stock exchange and become publicly-traded:

• via an Initial Public Offering (IPO)
• via a Reverse Takeover (RTO)

Some of the reasons a company would prefer a Reverse Takeover (RTO) is because it provides an efficient alternative to an IPO.

An RTO is much faster for a company to execute as the process of documentation and approvals is considerably shortened.

Secondly, an RTO is safer as existing free floats fulfil distribution requirements of the private company, and the new company is already listed in a stock exchange.

Thirdly, an RTO is much cheaper as the legal charges due to standard processes are reduced. There is also a possibility of cost-sharing between companies.