Corporate Finance

and Investment
Seminar 3 & 4
Dr. Martin T. Holi
Jacobs University 2019
 Corporate Finance
Corporate Law

Legal Entities
(Rechtsformen)

Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment) 2

 Legal Entities
Overview

Legal Entities
(German Law)

Limited
Sole Traders Partnerships Mixed Forms Companies Others

BGB-Gesellschaft / UG / GmbH / Ltd. Gesellschaft mit Verein

Freiberufler / GbR beschränkter Haftung (Associations)
Gewerbetreibende (civil-law corporations) & Co. KG (GmbH) Limited

Unternehmer-
Stiftungen
eingetragene Offene Handels- gesellschaft
(Foundations)
Kaufleute gesellschaft (OHG) (haftungsbeschränkt)
(e.Kfm. / e. Kff.) General Partners

Aktiengesellschaft
Genossenschaften
Kommandit- (AG)
(Coops)
gesellschaft (KG) Public Company
General & Limited
Partners
Foreign law entities
(e.g. UK Limited)

Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment)

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 Corporate Finance
Sole Trader

• No capital requirements
• Business registration required (32€ in Bremen)
• Unlimited liability (high risk)
• Operating under the founders’ names
• Trading name possible (Geschäftsbezeichnung)
• Majority of German businesses

Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment)

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 Corporate Finance
Partnerships: OHG

• No capital requirements
• Business registration required (32€ in Bremen)
• Unlimited liability (high risk)
• Operating under the founders’ names
• Trading name possible (Geschäftsbezeichnung)
• Majority of German businesses

Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment)

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 Corporate Finance
GmbH

• Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung

• Limited liability company
• Minimum share capital requirement: 25.000 €
• One to unlimited shareholders
• Court registration required
• dedicated law: GmbHG
• starting capital can be spend,
it is not a capital reserve!
Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment)
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 Corporate Finance
UG (haftungsbeschränkt)

• UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
• sub-form of GmbH (§5a GmbHG)
• Minimum capital requirement: 1 €
• Response to UK-Limited relocating to Germany

Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment)

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 Corporate Finance
GmbH / UG Formation

• Shareholders’ agreement
• Share capital (formation by cash or in kind)
• Corporate name (firm)
• Company headquarter
• Statutes
• Executive organs (Geschäftsführer)
• Notary certification
• Court registration
Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment)
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 Corporate Finance
AG

• Aktiengesellschaft (AG)
• Public limited company
• Minimum share capital requirement: 50.000 €
• One to unlimited shareholders
• Board of Directors, Supervisory Board and General
Meeting
• Court registration required, dedicated law: AktG
• Required for stock exchange listing
Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment)
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 Corporate Finance
Registration (1. HY 2014) in Bremen

Kffm /
Vereine (40) Kffr.
(43)

GmbH & Co. KG (94)

GmbH (325)

Unternehmergesellschaft
(94)

GmbH (325) Unternehmergesellschaft (94) GmbH & Co. KG (94)

Vereine (40) Kffm / Kffr. (43) OHG (7)
Partnerschaftsgesellschaft (5) KG (2) AG (2)
Rechtsform aus. Rechts (2) Genossenschaft (1) SE (1)

Dr. Martin Holi (Corporate Finance and Investment)

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