Warrants are much similar to call options, and it will usually confer the same rights as an equity option and they can even be traded in secondary markets. Despite of all the facts, warrants have several key differences:
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Private parties issue the warrants, typically these private parties are corporation on which a warrant is based, rather than a public options exchange.
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When the warrant issued by the company is exercised, new shares of stock are issued by the company, so there would be an increase in number of outstanding shares. Where as when a call option is exercised, an existing share from an assigned call writer is received by the owner of the call option (except in the case of employee stock options, where new shares are created and issued by the company upon exercise). Unlike common stock shares outstanding, warrants do not posses voting rights.
