A company's first public sale of shares on the exchange, turning it from private to listed.
An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is the first time a company sells shares to the public on the exchange, turning from private to listed so any investor can buy in. Companies do this to raise capital for expansion or to let existing shareholders partially exit. An IPO has a set window and price (or price range); when demand exceeds supply it is "oversubscribed" and allocated pro-rata. After listing, the share trades freely and its price moves on supply and demand. IPOs are opportunities but carry risk because the stock has a short trading history. FoudaLens tracks new EGX IPOs.