Research and Course Guides: STCM 470: Strategic Communication Campaigns: Private Company Resources

Researching Private Companies

Finding information on private companies can be quite challenging. If the company is very small and/or private, it may be necessary to piece the information together from many sources.

Private Company Information

Reference Solutions from Data Axle (Formerly ReferenceUSA) This link opens in a new window
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Contains information for millions of U.S. businesses nationwide. Search by company name, size, revenue or business costs (often these figures are estimated), location, industry, or many other characteristics. Choose US Businesses or US Standard White Pages, then Advanced Search. Exporting of data is limited to 100 items on-campus or 50 off-campus.
Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new window
Mergent Intellect is useful for locating information about private companies. Intellect also covers public companies and includes a broad range of industry reports. Note: public company records in Intellect are not as detailed as those available in Mergent Online.

Use of the Mergent data and service are intended for non-commercial academic purposes only.
PrivCo This link opens in a new window
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PrivCo database is UST Library’s premier source for finding information on privately-held companies. Company profiles include an overview of the firm, its leadership team/owners, and company financials. The profiles also contain, when available, detailed information on VC and private equity funding, private M&A deals, patent and copyright litigation, and IPO activities. Register for a free personal account or use the Direct Access button.

Corporate Registration (NASS)
Links to websites for the state government agency responsible for registering corporations in their states, from the National Association of Secretaries of State. The filings, searching, access, and archive will vary from state to state. Since companies are required to file with the Secretary of State of the state in which they are established, these filings may be all there is available.
Ward's Business Directory Of U.S. Private & Public Companies
Covers more than 100,000 U.S. companies, 90% of which are private. Includes company assets and operating revenue, employee figures, and SIC and NAICS industry codes.

D&B Hoovers This link opens in a new window
D&B Hoovers provides company information from about 18 million global companies, detailed industry reports, analyst reports, SEC filings, and market research.
Factiva This link opens in a new window
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Factiva is a great source for finding up-to-the-minute news articles from publications around the world including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Financial Times. It also contains many smaller market news sources, trade magazines, and journals. Use the Companies and Markets option to access company profiles and industry data. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.

If you use Factiva's Share>Within My Account feature to find links for emailing or to use in Canvas, that URL needs to be adjusted with a special code to connect it with our subscription. Copy that URL and paste it into our ProxyMe! widget to create the adjusted URL.
S&P Global NetAdvantage This link opens in a new window
An excellent source for company and industry research, including financial and ratio analysis. Contains the former Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys and Stock Reports (now produced by CFRA Equity Research). Also includes mutual fund/ETF and bond information, investment research reports, stock screening and charting tools.

Secretaries of State Site (from LLC University)
All 50 states make some level of corporate and business filings (including private business incorporation information) available online. In a few instances only limited information (such as name availability) is retrievable. The majority of the states, however, have a site that provides a range of private company business records, often at no charge.

Private Company Rankings & Lists

Forbes: America's Largest Private Companies
A ranking of the private companies in the US that have annual revenues of $2 billion or greater. Click on a company name on the list for further information about that company.
Inc. 5000
Fastest-growing private companies in America.
Red Herring's 100 Awards
Top 100 private technology companies in the Global, North American, Europe, and Asia categories.

What's a Private Company?

A private company is a company that's not traded on any stock exchange. Generally, private companies do not have to file documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC.)

Find News and Journal Articles on Private Companies

ProQuest US Newsstream, including Star Tribune This link opens in a new window
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US Newsstream enables users to search current U.S. news content, as well as archives that stretch back into the 1980s. It features top newspapers, wires, broadcast transcripts, along with national and regional news sources including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Star Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Chicago Tribune.
Access World News This link opens in a new window
Contains thousands of national and international newspapers and other news sources, including campus news, broadcast news transcripts and business news. Excellent source for smaller news outlets.
Business Journals (including Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal) This link opens in a new window
Contains full-text articles from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal which provides in-depth news about Minnesota companies, the local business environment, and the Annual Book of Lists. It also contains additional business journals from other cities that covers regional news from across the United States. Users must sign up for a free account using their UST email with a separate password. Available only to current UST students, faculty, and staff. Works best with Chrome.
Factiva This link opens in a new window
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News articles from publications around the world including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Financial Times. It also contains many smaller market news sources, trade magazines, and journals. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.

If you use Factiva's Share>Within My Account feature to find links for emailing or to use in Canvas, that URL needs to be adjusted with a special code to connect it with our subscription. Copy that URL and paste it into our ProxyMe! widget to create the adjusted URL.
Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
Includes articles from trade publications and scholarly journals as well as company profiles, investment research reports, industry reports, market research, country reports, and SWOT analysis.