Everyone likes a shortcut and private companies are no exceptions. You see if a private company wanted to go public, one way to do so is through a reverse takeover. This is where the private company buys a public company to bypass complex processes involved in going public. This way, the public company’s organisation structure comes under the private company’s board of directors who directly receive the public company’s shares.
For example…
Take for instance the New York Stock Exchange or NYSE acquiring electronics company Archipelago Holdings Inc. The takeover of the public company meant that the newly formed NYSE Group Inc. became a public company itself.