Ready-made companies, ready to take over
A company that already sits on the register, with its capital paid up and not one day of trading behind it — signed over to you instead of built from scratch.
A ready-made company is incorporated in order to wait. It has never taken on staff, never entered into a contract and never issued an invoice. What changes hands is therefore not a business with customers and obligations, but a finished corporate structure that is complete on paper and empty in substance.
- Registered and ready to sign
- Share capital paid up and evidenced
- Never traded, no history
- An incorporation date in the past
What the company brings with it
Four things are settled before you ever hear of the company. They are the reason the handover can be done in days rather than weeks.
- On the registerThe company exists as a legal person in its own right. Nothing about the incorporation is still pending, and nothing can go wrong with it after you have paid.
- Capital paid upThe share capital has been contributed and is evidenced by a current bank statement, which you see before you commit. The money remains an asset of the company and passes to you with it.
- Never operationally activeNo trade, no employees, no supplier relationships. A company that has never done anything cannot have run up a debt — and the transfer agreement warrants exactly that.
- No commercial pastThere are no accounts to interpret, no old disputes to inherit and no former directors to trace. Your due diligence is a short one.
Until the day of the handover the company carries a neutral name and our address. Both are changed as part of the takeover, together with the directors and the objects.
Where to go next
See what is on the shelf
The current list, shown anonymously with incorporation date, capital and jurisdiction, so that you can see whether the company you need is there today.
Check the name first
If the company is to trade under a name of your choosing, that name has to be free. We look at Companies House and at the Irish register for you, at no charge.
Buying instead of incorporating
Both routes end in the same place: a limited company with your name on it. They differ in how long the waiting takes and in what you carry while you wait.
| New incorporation | Ready-made company | |
|---|---|---|
| Until the company can act | On the continent two to four weeks, depending on the registry court | Within 24 hours of reservation |
| Before registration | You answer personally for what the company in formation does | Does not arise — the company is already there |
| Share capital | Has to be raised and confirmed first | Contributed and evidenced |
| Tax number | Applied for after registration, several weeks to issue | In place |
| Company name | Yours from the outset | Changed to your name at the handover |
| Planning | The date is known only once the registrar has acted | Fixed price, fixed appointment |
Take the ready-made route when a contract, a tender, a licence or a closing date is waiting on the company, when an investor wants to see a registered entity before committing, or when a shareholding has to be completed on a set day.
What is different in the United Kingdom
We would rather say this plainly than have you find it out afterwards. In Britain the case for a ready-made company is weaker than it is on the continent, and for a good reason.
A private limited company filed at Companies House is normally registered within 24 hours. There is no notary, no capital confirmation and no registry court sitting between you and the certificate. The waiting time that a ready-made company removes elsewhere barely exists here, so the classic argument — speed — largely falls away.
What does not fall away is the date. A company taken from the shelf carries an incorporation date in the past, and that date is visible to everyone who looks the company up. In a tender that asks for a minimum trading period, in a supplier's credit assessment, in a framework agreement that sets a threshold on company age, that single line can decide whether you are allowed to bid at all.
Where a new incorporation is enough, we will say so. If nobody is asking how old your company is, if you have a fortnight to spare and if you want the articles drafted around your own arrangements from the start, incorporate. It is cheaper and it fits you better. We are glad to do that for you too, and we will not talk you into the other route.
One point of caution about age: a company that has existed for years but never traded is old on the register and new in every other respect. It has no turnover figures, no filed accounts of substance and no payment record. Where a counterparty is really asking for a track record rather than a date, no purchase on earth will supply one.
Ready-made company or dormant company
Both are available at short notice, and people often use the two words as though they meant the same thing. They do not. The dividing line is whether the company has ever traded.
| Ready-made company | Dormant company | |
|---|---|---|
| Past activity | None whatsoever | Traded at some point and has since gone quiet |
| What it offers | A clean start with an earlier date | Age, filed accounts and a documented history |
| What has to be examined | Register extract, articles, evidence of capital | The above, plus clearance from the tax authority and the social insurance body, the filed annual accounts and a search of the insolvency records |
| Risk you take on | Nothing that predates you | Whatever the examination did not surface |
| Price | The lower of the two | Higher, because the history is worth something |
The simpler route is the ready-made company. The more valuable one, where the history genuinely helps, is a dormant company that has been properly examined. We do not offer a dormant company until those documents are on the table, and we hand them to you before you decide, not after.
How a takeover runs
Tell us what it has to do
Jurisdiction, company type, the name you want and the date you are working towards. We reserve a suitable company and hold it for you.
Papers and identity check
You receive the register extract, the constitutional documents and the evidence of capital, together with a written quotation. In parallel we carry out the identity check that the money laundering rules require.
The shares change hands
For a Ltd this is done in writing; an Austrian or German GmbH requires a notarial deed, which can be taken remotely over a secure video link. You do not have to travel.
Filings and handover
Name, registered office, directors and objects are filed with the register. From the moment of signing the company is yours and you can act; the filings run alongside.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly can I actually start?
Once a company is reserved for you, the documents reach you within 24 hours. The date at which you can act is the date of signature — for a Ltd that can be the same week, for a GmbH it is set by the notary's diary, usually within a working day of the papers being ready.
Is the company really free of debt?
Yes, and you do not have to take our word for it. A company that has never been operationally active has had no opportunity to incur a liability. You see the register extract, the constitutional documents and the bank evidence of the capital before you sign, and the transfer agreement gives you a contractual assurance on top.
Can it keep trading under a name I choose?
As a rule, yes. The change of name is dealt with as part of the handover and filed together with the change of ownership.
What we cannot do is promise you a particular name. Whether it can go on the register is for the registrar to decide, and a name that is free today may not be tomorrow. That is why the check comes first — see our free name check.
Can several of us take the company over together?
Yes. The number of shareholders is not limited, and how the shares are split between you is your decision. The split is written into the transfer documents and filed with the register afterwards.
Do I have to live in the country where the company sits?
No. Neither a British nor an Irish nor a continental residence is a condition of ownership. What each jurisdiction does insist on is an address at which the company can be reached, and Ireland additionally requires that at least one director be resident in the European Economic Area or that security be lodged instead. We arrange both.
Does the company come with a bank account?
Sometimes, and where it does it is stated in the offer. Whether an existing account passes to you with the company is a decision for the bank and not for us — banks generally want to meet the new owner before they release it. Where there is no account, we prepare the application and go through it with you.
What does it cost?
That depends on the company type and on the capital involved. The two price pages set out what is covered by the fixed price and what is charged on: prices for shelf Ltds and prices for ready-made GmbHs.
Not sure whether you need one?
Tell us what the company has to be able to do and by when. In ten minutes on the telephone we can usually tell you whether a takeover earns its keep in your case or whether you are better off incorporating.
Telephone UK +44 114 6972907 IRL +353 12337845 AT +43 5524 22308 DE +49 69 96759363 CH +41 58 5105770
This page is general information about how a takeover works, not legal or tax advice, and we give neither. Whether a company suits your plans, how it will be taxed where you are, and what a particular tender or licence requires of it are questions for a solicitor, a notary or an accountant whom you instruct directly. We are happy to suggest partners.