Ready-made company

Ready-made companies in Germany

Ready-made companies offer the opportunity to shorten the start-up process for companies in Germany. An urgent conclusion of a contract or an important customer’s demand for a German company as invoice issuer: in business life there are situations time and time again when even entrepreneurs who plan prudently need an applicable German legal structure “yesterday”.

The foundation process in Germany takes time. There are several reasons for this: a foundation cannot simply be completed online but has to be done in the presence of a notary. As a second step, the company needs to be entered into the commercial registry. Only then tax registration is possible.

For anyone in a hurry: purchase a shelf company

Purchasing a shelf company shortens this time considerably. The notary appointment required for this can be made at short notice. The buyer can effectively do business in the company’s name immediately after this appointment.

A shelf company is a company that has indeed been founded and entered into the commercial registry but has not been commercially active yet. As a result, the buyer does not have to fear any risks from old business. “Good” shelf companies have a bank account that has the full share capital as stipulated in the articles of association. Our firm’s network partners hold such companies that we have been looking after since their foundation.

The purchase price of a shelf company from our network is generally made up of the share capital plus a charge of EUR 1.500 to EUR 2.500. This kind of company is therefore particularly interesting to anyone under time pressure. Contact us by email or give us a call if the idea of a shelf company may be of interest to you.

Important to know when buying ready-made companies

We only work with companies that are clearly registered as a ready-made company with the tax administration and that have never undertaken any economic activity before they were sold. No bank in Germany is obliged to continue working with a company after a change of ownership. In any case, the bank will initiate its internal know-your-customer-procedure. To avoid any time-consuming problems, it is clarified early on with the account-keeping banks whether the account management is guaranteed in the long term after the purchase of the shares.

Our offer is aimed at companies that need a German legal form quickly without being in financial trouble. Should you be looking for a ready-made company in the context of bankruptcy, this would, unfortunately, not fall into the range of services we can offer you.

Complex owner structures of prospective buyers will prolong the process until you can work with the new company. This applies in particular to non-European shareholders, for example from the Asian region, partly due to additional requirements in these cases concerning translation and notarial certification of documents from the shareholders’ country of residence. Our entire network is geared to the special requirements of international customers. In particular to European buyers we can offer fast and smooth purchase procedures.

Even if we are located in the far north of Germany – right on the Danish border, we are happy to help you with your start-ups and projects throughout Germany. For example, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Berlin, Dresden and Hamburg are places, alongside Schleswig-Holstein, where our clients position their companies.

We help you to establish the right contacts with sellers and notaries, as well as how we take care of tax matters. In addition, in cooperation with one of our partners, we can arrange the necessary premises for your newly acquired company. 

Benjamin J. Feindt

Benjamin J. Feindt

Accountant and partner

Our services

Quick ownership of a German company

Fully paid in, untouched share capital

No business activity by the company before purchase

Simple process thanks to well-established network

Tax law considered when setting up the corporate structure

Timetable for purchasing a shelf company

1. Information and reservation

You get in touch with us and reserve a shelf company. In case you have not done this before, you should be ready to take about one hour to make sure you will get well informed; especially if you are pressed for time!

We will then exchange the information required for the contracts. You will be given insight in all the company’s accounts since its foundation. We arrange an appointment with the notary and the seller.

2. Contracts and insight
3. Purchasing the company

All the documents concerning the company will be handed over at the notary appointment. You will be operational with the company immediately afterwards. The notary will proceed to have the new managing director and the new owners entered into the commercial register. The purchase price for the company generally has to be transferred to the seller or a notary trust account (subject to charges) before the appointment.

we will take care of the necessary tax registrations for you.

4. Tax numbers