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The Williams Formula 1 team is considering a flotation on the stock market, chairman Adam Parr has said.
Team principal and owner Sir Frank Williams would remain the majority shareholder, with co-founder Patrick Head retaining a "substantial" stake.
Parr said the move was not motivated by a desire to seek an injection of funds.
"If we were to go to the market, it would create a basis for future planning. It's about succession planning and future-proofing," he said.
"We have to think about the long-term future of the team. You can't do it overnight and you can't do it in a rush, better to plan now to prepare for the future."
Williams are one of the most successful teams in F1, but they have slipped from the pedestal they occupied when they dominated the sport for much of the 1980s and 1990s.
They have not won a championship since 1997 and last won a grand prix in 2004 and have in recent years struggle to raise the budget required to compete at the front.
Sir Frank Williams said in a statement: "For some years I've been considering how to secure the long-term future of Williams. I've concluded the option that will best achieve this is to broaden our shareholder base with public investors.
"Patrick, Toto (Wolff, a fellow shareholder) and I are therefore examining this option closely and if the environment is propitious, we may well act in the near future.
"Whatever action we take, I shall remain the majority shareholder and chairman."
Parr added: "It is very important to state we are not as a company seeking to raise funds. This would not involve any new equity or funding for the company."
Frank Williams wins Helen Rollason award
And he Parr denied that the action was motivated by a desire from Williams to retire: "Absolutely not. It is not anywhere near his agenda."
He said that the team had made the announcement to avoid the news leaking out and leading to damaging speculation about their plans.
"There comes a point where in a process like this where you're talking to so many different people that either you can't have effective conversations any further, or you're going to confront leaks," Parr said.
"And we thought it was very important to be able to plan it effectively without worrying about all this. We didn't want rumours beginning that we have no ability to control."
Williams finished sixth in the constructors' championship in 2010 and at the Brazilian Grand Prix the German Nico Hulkenberg took their first pole position for five years.
Hulkenberg has not been retained for 2011 after Williams decided to take on the Venezuelan rookie Pastor Maldonado, whose presence is linked to a multi-year, multi-million pound sponsorship deal with his country's state oil company, PDVSA.
Their lead driver will continue to be the Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello, a former Ferrari driver who has competed in more grands prix than any other driver in history.
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Team principal and owner Sir Frank Williams would remain the majority shareholder, with co-founder Patrick Head retaining a "substantial" stake.
Parr said the move was not motivated by a desire to seek an injection of funds.
"If we were to go to the market, it would create a basis for future planning. It's about succession planning and future-proofing," he said.
"We have to think about the long-term future of the team. You can't do it overnight and you can't do it in a rush, better to plan now to prepare for the future."
Williams are one of the most successful teams in F1, but they have slipped from the pedestal they occupied when they dominated the sport for much of the 1980s and 1990s.
They have not won a championship since 1997 and last won a grand prix in 2004 and have in recent years struggle to raise the budget required to compete at the front.
Sir Frank Williams said in a statement: "For some years I've been considering how to secure the long-term future of Williams. I've concluded the option that will best achieve this is to broaden our shareholder base with public investors.
"Patrick, Toto (Wolff, a fellow shareholder) and I are therefore examining this option closely and if the environment is propitious, we may well act in the near future.
"Whatever action we take, I shall remain the majority shareholder and chairman."
Parr added: "It is very important to state we are not as a company seeking to raise funds. This would not involve any new equity or funding for the company."
Frank Williams wins Helen Rollason award
And he Parr denied that the action was motivated by a desire from Williams to retire: "Absolutely not. It is not anywhere near his agenda."
He said that the team had made the announcement to avoid the news leaking out and leading to damaging speculation about their plans.
"There comes a point where in a process like this where you're talking to so many different people that either you can't have effective conversations any further, or you're going to confront leaks," Parr said.
"And we thought it was very important to be able to plan it effectively without worrying about all this. We didn't want rumours beginning that we have no ability to control."
Williams finished sixth in the constructors' championship in 2010 and at the Brazilian Grand Prix the German Nico Hulkenberg took their first pole position for five years.
Hulkenberg has not been retained for 2011 after Williams decided to take on the Venezuelan rookie Pastor Maldonado, whose presence is linked to a multi-year, multi-million pound sponsorship deal with his country's state oil company, PDVSA.
Their lead driver will continue to be the Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello, a former Ferrari driver who has competed in more grands prix than any other driver in history.
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