As per Section 2(71) of the Companies Act, 2013- “Public company” means a company which
(a) is not a private company and;
(b) has a minimum paid-up share capital as may be prescribed:
Provided that a company which is a subsidiary of a company, not being a private company, shall be deemed to be public company for the purposes of this Act even where such subsidiary company continues to be a private company in its articles
Public Company allows to sell shares to investors just increase their capital. Public limited company has most of the same characteristics as the Private limited company.
Minimum requirement of directors are three. It has more stringent regulatory requirements compared to a Private Limited Company. Identifying marks of a public limited company are name, number of members, shares, formation, management, directors and meetings, etc.
Shares of a company limited by shares are transferable by a shareholder to any other person. Filing and signing a share transfer form and handing over the buyer of the shares along with share certificate can easily transfer shares. No shareholder can make any claim upon the property of the company so long as the company is a going concern.
A company enjoys better avenues for borrowing of funds. It can issue debentures, secured as well as unsecured and can also accept deposits from the public, etc. Even banking and financial institutions prefer to render large financial assistance to a company rather than partnership firms or proprietary concerns.