'Under this method of floatation in the primary market, a subscription is invited from the general public to invest in the securities of a company through the issue of advertisement.'

Which of the following methods is being referred to here?

Offer through a prospectus

The correct answer is option 2- Offer through Prospectus.

Offer through prospectus is the most popular method of raising funds by public companies in the primary market. This involves inviting subscription from the public through issue of prospectus. A prospectus makes a direct appeal to investors to raise capital, through an advertisement in newspapers and magazines. The issues may be underwritten and also are required to be listed on at least one stock exchange. The contents of the prospectus have to be in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act and SEBI disclosure and investor protection guidelines.

OTHER OPTIONS

• Private placement- Private placement is the allotment of securities by a company to institutional investors and some selected individuals. It helps to raise capital more quickly than a public issue. Access to the primary market can be expensive on account of various mandatory and non-mandatory expenses. Some companies, therefore, cannot afford a public issue and choose to use private placement.

• Offer for sale- Under this method securities are not issued directly to the public but are offered for sale through intermediaries like issuing houses or stock brokers. In this case, a company sells securities enbloc at an agreed price to brokers who, in turn, resell them to the investing public.