What limitations are there on a company before it can go public? Can a startup of one person do an IPO?
Hi giladsof,
Welcome to the forums. You've asked a good question but to be brutally honest with you here, you are not ready to float your company/business. You would be asking your legal team and not an internet forum (with respect). An IPO (Initial Public Offering) is purely to raise capital for your company. And in short answer to your question, No, 1 person cannot float their company.
Assuming this is a UK float related question then your company would be expected to have many millions under its belt - ie, worth £50m plus.
If you are a smaller business/company looking to raise funds then you can of course take other avenues such as (similar but not quite the same) selling off shares. This would mean selling part of your business in exchange for funds of what you expect your company to exceed or be (typically) worth at the time of the sale.
Dragons den is a good example here on how one would value their business but yet the investor values it differently. If you are prepared to sell off part of your business, expect there to be issues with control, input of investor/s (good or bad intentions/direction) and the funds you would potentially receive and how they are allocated.
In short there is a lot of work to be considered for an IPO and this can take several months, in some cases years to successfully float. Legal bodies, solicitors and bankers are always also involved which soak up a lot of time let alone money.
If you are a small business, and I'm going to assume that you are, looking to raise capital, then a bank loan, business loan or fund and buy back option would be your best route.
Lee