offer for sale

One of the ways a company can float its shares on a stock exchange is to issue a prospectus announcing its intention to issue new shares, set a price for them, and invite the public to apply for them at the advertised price. The alternative route is to issue shares and 'place' them in the hands of a number of institutions who then release them on to the secondary market.

Placing is much cheaper for companies than an offer for sale and, since the London Stock Exchange scrapped its rule requiring large flotations to include an offer to the public, companies have increasingly come to market by way of placing. This can be frustrating for private investors who can only buy the shares in the ' secondary' market (i.e. post-new issue trading) and feel they are denied the opportunities that institutions get.