The primary market, also called the new issue market, is the market for issuing new securities. Many companies, especially small and medium scale, enter the primary market to raise money from the public to expand their businesses. They sell their securities to the public through an initial public offering. The securities can be directly bought from the shareholders, which is not the case for the secondary market. The primary market is a market for new capitals that will be traded over a longer period.
In the primary market, securities are issued on an exchange basis. The underwriters, that is, the investment banks, play an important role in this market: they set the initial price range for a particular share and then supervise the selling of that share.
Investors can obtain news of upcoming shares only on the primary market. The issuing firm collects money, which is then used to finance its operations or expand business, by selling its shares. Before selling a security on the primary market, the firm must fulfill all the requirements regarding the exchange.
After trading in the primary market the security will then enter the secondary market, where numerous trades happen every day. The primary market accelerates the process of capital formation in a country's economy.
The primary market categorically excludes several other new long-term finance sources, such as loans from financial institutions. Many companies have entered the primary market to earn profit by converting its capital, which is basically a private capital, into a public one, releasing securities to the public. This phenomena is known as "public issue" or "going public."
There are three methods though which securities can be issued on the primary market: rights issue, Initial Public Offer (IPO), and preferential issue. A company's new offering is placed on the primary market through an initial public offer.
