Private Company Research

Private companies are the hardest to research as these companies, unlike publicly traded companies, are not required to disclose any of their financial data or officer and director information to governing bodies, such as the SEC or the NASD. If private companies do chose to disclose information (such as sales or profits), the data they disclose cannot be relied on as wholly accurate and are often very conservative.

The best way to get an idea of a company’s financials is to compare the company to a similarly sized publicly traded company. This gives you a rough estimate of the company’s value. To find a similar public company in the same industry, look for a firm with the same primary SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) code. Look at the sales, profits, and market values of similar companies to the one you are researching.

In addition, you can often find key information in media articles written about the company or about a similar sized company that went through a merger or was sold. Analysts discussing a recent merger may give hints as to the market value or selling price of the company.