1. 1. The Business Organisation
1.2 Choosing the Right Legal Structure for the Business
1.2 Choosing the Right Legal Structure for the Business
Can you match these famous stock market measurements to the city where they can be found?
Dow Jones
Nikkei
Hang Seng
Cac 40
FTSE
Tokyo
London
New York
Hong Kong
Paris

2. Revisiting unit 1
1.2 Choosing the Right Legal Structure
In unit 1 you looked at different types of legal structure, including private limited companies.
What is a private limited company?
How can it raise finance?
What is limited liability?
In this section you will look at the advantages and disadvantages of a private limited company becoming a public limited company.
Why might a business want to become a public limited company?

3. Public Limited Companies10 9 11 12 14 13 8 6 1
End 2 3 5 4 7 15 26 25 27 28 30 29 16 24 18 17 23 19 20 22 21
You have 30 seconds to write down as many businesses as you can think of with PLC after their name, starting from NOW!
1.2 Choosing the Right Legal Structure

4. 1.2 Choosing the Right Legal Structure for the Business
In this topic you will learn about:
Private Limited Companies (ltd)
Public Limited Companies (plc)

5. REVISITING UNIT 1 – PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANIES
Private Limited Companies exist in their own right
The owners and the company are separate legal entities
The company’s finances are separate from the owner’s personal finances
Shareholders are the owners of Private Limited Companies
Shareholders have limited liability – they are not responsible for the company’s debts
Shareholders can only lose the money that they have invested in the business in the form of shares 5

6. REVISITING UNIT 1 – PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANIES
Benefits
Limited Liability
Increased sources of finance
More expertise available
Difficult for hostile takeovers to occur
Drawbacks
Competitors can see financial information
Difficult for individual shareholders to sell their shares, as other shareholders have to agree
Greater legal constraints
Can’t sell shares to the general public
Shares can only be sold to family and friends. Why could this be seen as both an advantage and disadvantage? 6

7. They exist in their own right
WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN A PRIVATE AND A PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY?
They exist in their own right
The owners and the company are separate legal entities
The company’s finances are separate from the owner’s personal finances
Shareholders are the owners of Limited Companies
Shareholders have limited liability
Shareholders can only lose the money that they have invested in the business in the form of shares
Public limited companies operate in the private sector 7

8. What is the private sector? What is the public sector?
HOW DOES A PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY DIFFER FROM A PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY?
Public Limited Company has PLC after its name
What does a Private Limited Company have?
A PLC must have issued at least £ worth of shares
At least 25% (£12 500) of shares have to be paid up i.e. they have been paid for
A PLC can sell shares to the general public
A PLC can be listed on the Stock Exchange
Public Limited Companies operate in the private sector, NOT the public sector.
What is the private sector?
What is the public sector? 8

9. PLCs – activity Visit the following website:
1.2 Choosing the Right Legal Structure
Visit the following website:
Click on the link to the FTSE100
Fill in the table below with information regarding these PLCs
Company name
What FTSE sector?
Headquarters address
Company value
(Market cap)
British Airways
BSkyB
M&S
Rolls Royce
Vodafone
If you were given £10000 to invest in a business of your choice which one would it be and why?

10. Enhanced reputation of the company due to its plc status
ADVANTAGES OF MOVING FROM A PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY TO BECOME A PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY?
Flotation on the stock market allows access to a larger scale of sources of finance
PLCs tend to be large, stable companies meaning it is easier to access further to finance from banks
Enhanced reputation of the company due to its plc status
The company gains exposure through the Stock Exchange
Flotation occurs when an organisation makes an offer of shares to the public (Initial Public Offering or IPO) 10

11. Flotation is an expensive process and not guaranteed to be successful
DISADVANTAGES OF MOVING FROM A PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY TO BECOME A PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY?
Flotation is an expensive process and not guaranteed to be successful
The general public can buy shares meaning that the company is open to takeover
Financial information is freely available for anyone to see, including competitors
Stricter rules and regulations are placed on PLCs
The divorce of ownership and control means that the owners of the business, the shareholders, might be different than those who control it, the board of directors 11

12. What are the advantages of being on the London Stock Exchange?
1.2 Choosing the Right Legal Structure for the Business
What are the disadvantages of being on the London Stock Exchange?
Listing on the stock exchange
Overall do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages or not?

13. What store am I? I am a British company, founded in 1919
1.1 Choosing the Right Legal Structure
What store am I?
I am a British company, founded in 1919
My first days sales were £4 with a profit of £1
I opened my first store in North London in 1929
I became a private limited company in 1932
I became a public limited company in 1947
In 1979 annual sales reached £1 billion for the first time
By 1982 this had doubled to £2 billion
In 1992 ‘Computers for Schools’ was launched
In 1997 Terry Leahy became Chief Executive
By 2010 I was a multi-national company with stores in China, Japan, the USA, Malaysia, Europe and across the globe
In March, 2011 Philip Clarke is set to takeover as Chief Executive
Tesco plc

14. What is a private limited company? (2 marks)
1.2 Choosing the Right Legal Structure for the Business
Paul Davis has run a computing business for a number of years. The company is a family business. Paul has two fellow directors, his brother and sister, and the business has private limited company status. There are a number of shops and five employees. One of the main objectives of the company is expansion.
At a recent board meeting Paul’s brother, George, suggested that the company should convert from Ltd. Status to become a public limited company (plc).
Question Time
What is a private limited company? (2 marks)
Recommend to the board of directors whether the company should convert to become a public limited company or remain as a limited company. Give reasons for your answer (9 marks)

15. End 2 Minute Test You have two minutes to answer the following:
Give two advantages of being:
a private limited company
a public limited company
Give two disadvantages of being:
End