An alternative to starting the process of
Greek company formation is to
buy a shelf company in Greece. The
shelf company simply refers to a legal entity that has already been incorporated following the standard registration rules and that is available for sale.
The purchase procedure is the same, regardless of the
company type the investor will buy, but differences can appear regarding the sale price of the legal entity.
What does a Greek shelf company offer?
The main advantage of a Greek shelf company is that the legal entity has already been incorporated, therefore the investors, regardless if they are Greek residents or foreigners, will not have to go through the entire incorporation procedure.
This usually implies addressing to many institutions, waiting for the issuance of certificates, permits and other corporate documents and a way to avoid this lengthy process, especially in the case of those who want to
open a Greek company as fast as possible, is the
shelf company.
Usually, a shelf company provides the following elements:
- a legal entity – in general, investors will find shelf companies incorporated as limited liability companies;
- a trading name;
- a legal address;
- a field of activity (this must be selected upon the incorporation);
- a share capital.
The advantage of this structure is that the investors are allowed to make specific changes, that must be registered with the Greek authorities once the sale of the company is completed.
The new shareholders have the right to change the company’s name, to select a new business address, another business field, to appoint new directors, these being some of the main changes that can be brought once the sale of the Greek shelf company is completed.
What types of shelf companies are available in Greece?
In Greece, just like in any other European countries, one can find 2 main categories of shelf companies (also referred to as ready-made companies). The 2 categories are:
- shelf companies that have been recently incorporated;
- aged shelf companies, that have been incorporated for minimum 2 years.
Please mind that the sale price is highly influenced by this factor, and here, we mention that the 2nd category will generally be more expensive, as the age of the company provides a certain business reliability when dealing with contracts, loans and other business partnerships.
Why open a company in Greece?
Whether an investor will
open a company in Greece following the standard incorporation process or whether he or she will
purchase a ready-made company, it is important to know some of the advantages of investing here.
- • according to Enterprise Greece, in 2022, the economic growth was of 5,9%;
- • labor productivity increased to 10.9% (compared to 6.5% in 2021);
- • the unemployment rate decreased to 12.4% (compared to 14.7% in 2021);
- • the workforce is highly skilled, as 47,1% of the entire workforce has completed tertiary education;
- • 71,8% of the workforce works in the tertiary sector, while 15,6% works in the secondary sector.
Trade, manufacturing and services are the largest employers (more that 688,000 people employed in the trade industry).
We invite foreign businessmen to
contact our company formation specialists for more details on how to start a business in this country. We can help you set up a company and you can also rely on us in the process of
buying a shelf company in Greece.