A rights issue or rights offer is a dividend of subscription rights to buy additional securities in a company made to the company's existing security holders. When the rights are for equity securities, such as shares, in a public company, it can be a non-dilutive pro rata way to raise capital. Rights issues are typically sold via a prospectus or prospectus supplement. With the issued rights, existing security-holders have the privilege to buy a specified number of new securities from the issuer at a specified price within a subscription period. In a public company, a rights issue is a form of public offering (different from most other types of public offering, where shares are issued to the general public).
Rights issues may be particularly useful for all publicly traded companies as opposed to other more dilutive financing options. As equity issues are generally preferable to debt issues from the company's viewpoint, companies usually opt for a rights issue in order to minimize dilution and maximize the useful life of tax loss carryforwards. Since in a rights offering there is no change of control and a "no-sale theory" applies, companies are able to preserve tax loss carry-forwards better than via either follow-on offerings or other more dilutive financings. It's one of the types in modes of issue of securities both in public and private companies.
