A company that has not sold any securities in a public offering, or otherwise become subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act. Businesses that have raised money by selling securities in a private placement remain private companies even though outside investors are securities holders. Private companies have no obligation to provide information about their business to the public or to their securities holders except to an extremely limited degree under state corporate law or except by contractual agreement with the investors. Because of various state and federal securities laws, there are no secondary trading markets for the securities of private companies.