What is a public offering?

Definition of a public offering

A public offering is when a company puts some or all of its securities up for sale on the open market. ‘Securities’ may be shares, bonds, or debentures, so long as they can be bought and sold on the open market.

When a company first puts securities up for sale in this way, the public offering will be an ‘initial public offering’, or ‘IPO’.

Example of a public offering:

A company will make a public offering when it offers shares to potential investors through crowdfunding.