Advantages and Disadvantages of Going Public and Becoming a Listed Company

Going public and becoming a listed company is a major step for a business. It could lead them to a greater amount of funds being available through the public capital markets to help with development and business growth. Accessing to the international capital market is one of the most important reasons that companies choose to be listed in overseas capital markets. The aim of this paper is to discuss the above-mentioned statement with empirical market or firm examples. This paper investigates advantages and disadvantages of going public and becoming a listed company, including possible alternatives. It also includes information asymmetry, agency problem and other factors influencing on IPO results, as well as empirical evidence from different countries and various IPO experience. The structure of this article is as follows. It starts with theoretical review and research on IPOs. Second section shows the main benefits and significant disadvantages according to various scholars. In the next section we discuss information asymmetry, agency problem and others factors influencing IPO. Following section presents the empirical academic evidence of corporations after IPO in different countries and also alternatives to IPO. The last section concludes.