Guides: ACCT/FINC Graziadio Corporate Finance and Accounting: Company Financial Information (Privately Held)

Sources for Researching Financial Information about Private Companies

Researching private companies is more challenging than publicly-traded companies since they are not required to report information to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

Privco
PrivCo.com is a well-known source for business and financial research on non-publicly traded corporations, including family-owned, private equity-owned, venture-backed and international unlisted companies. The PrivCo database provides difficult to find financial data on private companies. When available, this database may have reporting on financial data including evenue growth rate, along with funder and M&A data.You will have to create an individual account to view reports.

Example: I need the financial data on Hallmark Greeting Cards.

Enter Hallmark Cards, Inc. in the search box after signing in to your account
Click Go
Select the record titled Hallmark Cards, Inc.

LexisNexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) This link opens in a new window
LexisNexis provides Hoovers company reports and profiles. Search company profile and dossier information by company name or ticker symbol.

Example: I want to see financial information from the Hoover's report for the very well-known, but privately-held, Hallmark Greeting Card company

    Under the heading "What are you interested in?" click the box for "A Publication"
    Type "Hallmark Cards, Inc." into the box "Search Something Specific
    In Find publication, type "Hoovers Company Records - In-depth Records"
    Click Search
    Locate the Hoovers Company Report for "Hallmark Cards, Incorporated" Hoover's Company Records - In-depth Records