Why would a company IPO?

Generally to cement the value of the equity held by the stakeholders of the company - the IPO is seen as a way to put actual dollar value on their stake. If not, it would be purely according to the valuation of a acquiring company - which may not be a fair valuation. The market is seen as a more efficient and fairer platform of ensuring that you get your money's worth on the piece of pie you are currently holding onto, and if it comes to a point in time you wish to leave the company you can always liquidate relatively easily in the public exchange as compared to private equity negotiation and valuation.

To have a better understanding of IPO, you can check out this article from investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/ipo.asp

Basically, there are a few advantages for a company to IPO:

1. The primary objective of an IPO is usually to raise funds for the company.

2. The company can also have the choice to raise additional funds in the future by having a secondary offering.

3. Merger and acquisitions becomes easier for the company as it can use its shares to acquire another company/firm.

4. To publicize or make the company more well known.