Except that even if you're private you're still under the federal government's jurisdiction.

This is more a case of "We are worried about shenanigans going on behind the scenes. We'd like you to go public so your valuation is market determined and hopefully not a result of said shenanigans."

Whether you think that's good advice probably depends on how good you think Wall St is at valuations compared to private investors. I don't have a lot of faith that either is particularly clear eyed, but I'd probably trust the public valuation more than a private one.