Most businesses raise money by selling their securities in a public offering. A public offering is the sale of equity or other financial instruments by an organization to the public in order to raise funds for business expansion and investment. In general, any sale of securities to more than 35 people is considered to be a public offering and therefore necessitates the filing of registration statements with the suitable directing authorities. The proposing price is pre-set and recognized by the delivering company and the venture bankers controlling the transaction. The term public offering is similarly appropriate to an initial public offering of a company, as well as subsequent offerings.