An investment in the company by a group of private investors. This is usually a precursor to an IPO offering. Those private investors generally are using the IPO as an exit strategy and may be selling their shares as part of the offering. In the case of an IPO that has difficulty getting done, the company might withdraw the offering in favour of a private placement to meet cash requirements for the short term. Look for this offering to resurface at a later time in a restructured format.