| Privately-held Company |
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STATE OWNERSHIP VS. PRIVATE OWNERSHIP In the broadest sense, a privately-held company refers to any company that is not owned by the state. This usage is often found in former Communist countries, to differentiate from former state-owned enterprises, but may be used anywhere when contrasting to a state-owned company such as a Public Utility . OWNERSHIP OF STOCK A privately-held Corporation is one whose ownership Shares are not Publicly Traded . Often, privately-held companies are owned by the company founders and/or their families and heirs, or by a small group of investors. Most small businesses in the United States are privately held. Few large corporations are privately held, although there are exceptions, such as Swagelok , Kohler , Mars , and Bechtel . Privately-held companies generally have lower reporting requirements for Transparency , via annual reports, etc. For example, Part 2E of the Australian Corporations Act 2001 requires that public companies file certain documents relating to their Annual General Meeting with the Australian Securities And Investments Commission . Private companies also sometimes have restrictions on how many Shareholders they may have. For example, section 113 of the Corporations Act 2001 limits a private company to fifty non-employee shareholders. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |