Official company documents from 5,307,907 companies in Germany
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What is Dato Capital Germany
Dato Capital Germany is a dedicated search engine for the companies and directors of Germany. Search by company name or register number to find a company, its legal form, its status and its history, and the people who run it, with links to companies and directors of the same name in other countries.
What German companies are used for
Germany is the largest economy in Europe and one of the world's great exporters, known for engineering, automotive, chemicals, machinery and a strong family-owned Mittelstand. The private limited company (GmbH) is the standard vehicle for businesses of every size, the entrepreneurial company (UG, haftungsbeschränkt) lets founders start with little capital, the GmbH & Co. KG is the classic structure of family enterprises, and the stock corporation (AG) carries the largest groups and listed companies.
Typical company documents
The usual documents of a German company are its register extract, current or chronological, its articles of association, its list of shareholders, its annual financial statements, and the filings of its registration and of each change: managing directors, registered powers of attorney (Prokura), capital, name, registered seat, mergers, conversions and liquidation.
Financial statements
Corporations, limited companies and partnerships without a personally liable individual partner publish their annual financial statements, which are publicly available. Small companies publish an abridged balance sheet.
Directors
The managing directors of a GmbH, the management board of an AG and the holders of registered powers of attorney (Prokura) are entered in the register and are public, as is every change among them.
Shareholders
Every GmbH files a list of its shareholders, which is publicly available and updated with each change. The shareholders of an AG are not public, except the major holdings that listed companies must disclose.
Beneficial ownership
Companies report their beneficial owners to the Transparency Register; access is limited to the authorities and to persons with a legitimate interest.
Company numbers
A German company is identified by its register court, its register section (HRA, HRB, GnR, PR, VR) and its register number, and across Europe by its European Unique Identifier (EUID). The same name can belong to companies of different courts, so the court and the number tell them apart.
