<human>:  Explain the difference between an IPO and a reverse merger.
<bot>: An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is the process by which a private company can become a public one by releasing its shares to the public for the first time. A reverse merger is the opposite process, whereby a private company buys a publicly traded company so that the private company can become public without an IPO. As a result, the publicly traded company ceases to exist, and the private company maintains majority ownership of the new, public entity.