🇩🇪 Germany

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Search Functionality

German company search is intelligent, designed to handle both natural language queries and precise ID-based lookups. We use the Unternehmensregister for searches. We parse queries intelligently to extract and validate ID components:

• ID Components: Bureau/court (154 possible locations, e.g., “München”), registry type (e.g., “HRB” for commercial, “HRA” for partnership), and registration number (digits only). Supports fuzzy matching for variations like “Munchen” for “München” in bureaus or approximate spellings in registry types.
• Full ID Match: If all three components are detected and yield an exact match, we return a single precise result (no name search needed for speed and accuracy).
• Partial ID: If 1-2 components are present, partial ID results are prioritized first, followed by name search results (deduplicated by ID).
• Name Search Fallback: If no valid ID parts or full ID fails, we perform a comprehensive name search across the registry.

Examples:

• "München HRB 228960" → Extracts full ID → Single result: Spectra Bau GmbH (exact match).
• "HRB 12345" → Partial ID → HRB matches prioritized; name results appended if needed.
• "Siemens AG" → No ID → Full name search returns top matches.

This ensures precise results for known IDs while maintaining broad discoverability. All searches validate against official mappings for accuracy.

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Shareholders Extraction

German shareholder extraction uses an intelligent multi-source strategy that adapts based on the company’s legal form. The system automatically determines the optimal extraction path to maximize data quality and efficiency.

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Extraction Logic

The extraction process follows this logic:

1. Legal Form Analysis - The system first analyzes the company’s legal form to determine:
   • Whether it requires public shareholder disclosure
   • Whether it’s a partnership structure (KG, OHG, etc.) or corporate structure (GmbH, AG, etc.)
2. Primary Source: Gesellschafterliste (Shareholder List) - For companies required to disclose shareholders:
   • We first look for the “Liste der Gesellschafter” document
   • This is the most comprehensive and authoritative source
   • If found with shareholders, we use this exclusively
3. Fallback Strategy - If no Gesellschafterliste is found or it’s empty: For Partnership Structures (KG, GmbH & Co. KG, OHG):
   • First Priority: Trade register extract (“Aktueller Abdruck”)
     • Extracts Kommanditisten (limited partners)
     • Extracts Komplementär (general partners)
     • Identifies profit transfer agreements (100% control)
   • Last Resort: Financial statements (only if trade register has no partners)
   For Corporate Structures (GmbH, UG, AG, SE, KGaA):
   • Both sources checked in parallel:
     • Trade register extract (for control statements)
     • Financial statements (for parent company identification)

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Extraction Flow Diagram

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Data Sources Explained

1. Gesellschafterliste (Shareholder List)

• Official document filed with the trade register
• Required for: GmbH, UG, KG, OHG, GmbH & Co. KG
• Contains: Complete list of shareholders/partners with percentages and capital contributions
• Most authoritative source when available

2. Trade Register Extract (Aktueller Abdruck)

• Official certified extract from the Handelsregister
• For partnerships (KG, OHG): Lists Kommanditisten (limited partners) with capital contributions
  • Only economic owners extracted: Kommanditisten who provide capital and own the partnership
  • Komplementäre excluded: General partners (managers with unlimited liability) are NOT included as they are not economic owners
  • Percentage calculation: When multiple Kommanditisten are listed with capital amounts, percentages are automatically calculated
• For all companies: Shows profit transfer agreements (Gewinnabführungsvertrag) indicating 100% control
• Extracted using AI from PDF document

3. Financial Statements

• Annual reports and financial filings
• Used to identify parent companies through control relationships
• Fallback for companies without disclosure requirements (AG, SE, KGaA)
• Last resort for partnerships when trade register has no partner information

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Key Features

• Intelligent prioritization: Partnership structures check trade register before financial statements
• Economic ownership focus: Only returns actual shareholders/owners, excludes Komplementäre (general partners who manage but don’t own)
• Automatic percentage calculation: For KG structures, calculates ownership percentages from capital contributions when all Kommanditisten are listed
• Deduplication: Multiple sources are combined and deduplicated by shareholder identity
• Capital extraction: Supports German partnership terms like “Kommanditeinlage” and “Haftsumme”
• Source attribution: Each shareholder record includes the source document and extraction method

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Partnership Structures (KG) - Important Notes

German KG (Kommanditgesellschaft) and GmbH & Co. KG have two types of partners:

1. Komplementär (General Partner):
   • Manages the company with unlimited personal liability
   • NOT included in shareholder results - they are managers, not economic owners
   • Example: In “ABC GmbH & Co. KG”, the “ABC GmbH” is the Komplementär
2. Kommanditisten (Limited Partners):
   • Provide capital and own the economic value
   • Have limited liability (only lose their capital contribution)
   • These ARE included as shareholders with calculated percentages

Example: VREF Germany ACB GmbH & Co. KG

• ACB Verwaltungs GmbH (Komplementär) → Excluded (manager, not owner)
• Swiss Life AG (5,100 EUR) → Included as 5.1% shareholder
• VREF Germany Real Estate Acquico (94,900 EUR) → Included as 94.9% shareholder

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Financial Documents and Pricing

Some financial documents are more expensive:

• Regular companies must publish annual financial statements; these are available free of charge in the Handelsregister.
• Micro-companies may publish voluntarily. Because publication is optional, retrieval of these documents is paid.