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private company

American  

noun

British.
  1. a company whose shareholders may not exceed 50 in number and whose shares may not be offered for public subscription.


private company British  

noun

  1. a limited company that does not issue shares for public subscription and whose owners do not enjoy an unrestricted right to transfer their shareholdings Compare public company

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of private company

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A private company, Kalshi announced in June that it had raised $185 million in equity funding, valuing the company at $2 billion.

From MarketWatch

But Grangemouth is also a reminder that if the private company behind the plant decide it's shutting, there's little that any government can do to change that, short of stumping up vast sums to nationalise it.

From BBC

You can’t, of course, short a private company.

From Barron's

The PFI contract - under which a private company is paid to maintain buildings - in Stoke-on-Trent is the first of dozens of similar deals across England which are due to expire in the coming years.

From BBC

In 2015, the insurer, Wright USA, had been quietly purchased by Fosun Group, a private company believed to have very close connections with China's leadership.

From BBC