Private company limited by shares

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Private company limited by shares" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article is part of a series on
Corporate law
By jurisdiction Anguilla Australia BVI Canada Cayman Islands India South Africa UK United States Vietnam European Union France Germany
General corporate forms Company Conglomerate Cooperative Corporation Holding company Joint-stock Partnership General Limited Limited liability Private limited Shell corporation Shelf corporation Sole proprietorship
Corporate forms by jurisdiction European Union Societas (SE) Societas cooperativa (SCE) Societas privata (SPE) Societas unius personae (SUP) Economic interest grouping (EEIG) UK / Ireland / Commonwealth Charitable incorporated organisation (England and Wales) (CIO) Scottish charitable incorporated organisation (SCIO) Community interest company (CIC) Industrial and provident society (IPS) Limited company (Ltd.) by guarantee by shares proprietary public Unlimited company United States Benefit corporation C corporation Limited liability company (LLC) Low-profit LLC Series LLC Limited liability limited partnership (LLLP) S corporation Delaware corporation / statutory trust Massachusetts business trust Nevada corporation Others Aktiebolag (AB) Aktiengesellschaft (AG) Ansvarlig selskap (ANS) Aktieselskab (A/S) Aksjeselskap (AS) Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH) Kabushiki gaisha (K.K.) Naamloze vennootschap (N.V.) Osakeyhtiö (Oy) S.A. Société à responsabilité limitée (SARL) more...
Doctrines Business judgment rule Corporate governance De facto and estoppel corporations Internal affairs doctrine Limited liability Tag-along right Drag-along right Piercing the corporate veil Rochdale Principles Ultra vires
Related areas Beneficial ownership Civil procedure Contract Corporate registers Registered agent
Company portal Law portal
v t e

A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth jurisdictions^[which?] and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limited liability and its shares may not be offered to the general public, unlike those of a public limited company.

"Limited by shares" means that the liability of the shareholders to creditors of the company is limited to the capital originally invested, i.e. the nominal value of the shares and any premium paid in return for the issue of the shares by the company. A shareholder's personal assets are thus protected in the event of the company's insolvency, but any money invested in the company may be lost.

A limited company may be "private" or "public". A private limited company's disclosure requirements are lighter, but its shares may not be offered to the general public and therefore cannot be traded on a public stock exchange. This is the major difference between a private limited company and a public limited company. Most companies, particularly small companies, are private.