Claim: Google is a company.

Initial public offering -LRB- IPO -RRB- or stock market launch is a type of public offering in which shares of a company usually are sold to institutional investors that in turn , sell to the general public , on a securities exchange , for the first time . Through this process , a privately held company transforms into a public company . Initial public offerings are mostly used by companies to raise the expansion of capital , possibly to monetize the investments of early private investors , and to become publicly traded enterprises . A company selling shares is never required to repay the capital to its public investors . After the IPO , when shares trade freely in the open market , money passes between public investors . Although IPO offers many advantages , there are also significant disadvantages , chief among these are the costs associated with the process and the requirement to disclose certain information that could prove helpful to competitors . The IPO process is colloquially known as going public .   Details of the proposed offering are disclosed to potential purchasers in the form of a lengthy document known as a prospectus . Most companies undertake an IPO with the assistance of an investment banking firm acting in the capacity of an underwriter . Underwriters provide several services , including help with correctly assessing the value of shares -LRB- share price -RRB- and establishing a public market for shares -LRB- initial sale -RRB- . Alternative methods such as the dutch auction have also been explored . In terms of size and public participation , the two most notable examples of this method is the Google IPO and Snapchat 's parent company Snap Inc. . China has recently emerged as a major IPO market , with several of the largest IPOs taking place in that country .