public company

noun British.

a company that has more than 50 shareholders and whose shares are offered for public subscription.

Compare private company.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for public company

Contemporary Examples of public company

We have another name to add that most rarefied group of public-company CEOs in America: the $1 Club.
The $1 Club
Paul Kedrosky
January 31, 2009

British Dictionary definitions for public company

public company

noun

a limited company whose shares may be purchased by the public and traded freely on the open market and whose share capital is not less than a statutory minimum; public limited companyCompare private 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

public company in Culture

public company

A company that sells shares in itself to the public to raise capital. When a previously privately owned company offers shares, it is said to “go public.”