Private markets: The next big thing

Private share placements offer discreet buyout and hedge fund firms the best of both worlds: a way to raise cash without the scrutiny of going public. A look at how they differ from public listings.

Reputation
Reputation
A listing on the New York Stock Exchange still carries a certain cache - no doubt one of the reasons why Blackstone and hedge fund manager Fortress both chose to list on the Big Board.

"There is still a prestige factor to listing on the NYSE," said Kennedy from Jones Day. In addition to visibility, companies may take comfort in listing on a well-established public exchange.

Private markets are relatively new, but they may offer companies another form of stability. Shares traded on private markets could benefit from less volatility in their price, according to David Brophy, a professor of finance at the University of Michigan.

Sentiment can spark sharp movements - in both directions - in publicly listed share prices. The more sophisticated investors trading private shares, however, may better understand the market - and may be less prone to running up prices or sending them down suddenly, he said.

"There could be a more stable change of price which has a net effect of tempering the volatility that possibly exists in the public market," said Brophy.

Access Scrutiny Valuation Reputation

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.