In a recent opinion piece, entitled "Regulation, Yes. Strangulation, No," for the Wall Street Journal, Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, former Chairman of AIG, wrote:
Three words describe the prevailing sentiment in today's business environment -- private is beautiful. Increasingly, major U.S. corporations are removing themselves from the public equities markets and going private.
I have long believed and continue to believe that being public prematurely can ruin an otherwise fine company.
For the recent Bayhill Microcap Conference I spoke about 10 reasons that companies should consider going or remaining private. The audience at this event included CEOs and other officers of small companies, many of which are public. Others were hoping to go public.
In the coming days, I'll post the ten reasons I think that small companies should consider going or remaining private.
I look forward to the series.
I especially appreciate that you see becoming/staying private as a positive... From a pro-consumerist perspective ( mine ), I, too, see this as a positive. For as companies choose to go public for the wrong reasons, we have a greater chance that unsavvy investors will get burned... a strong supply of available stock lowers the bar for investors and encourages the kind of risky behavior that fed the internet stock bubble and bust.
Posted by: Silus Grok | September 23, 2006 10:21 PM | Permalink to Comment