Subsidiaries & Divisions
Subsidiaries are companies that appear to function as independent entities, but are in fact owned by a larger corporation. A company, such as General Electric, may have many subsidiaries or divisions under it. Each of these subsidiaries or divisions may have subsidiaries or divisions which it owns. A well-known company like Ben and Jerry Homemade Inc. may appear to be an independent company but is actually a subsidiary of Ben and Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc. which is a subsidiary of Unilever United States Inc. which is a part of Unilever plc. Subsidiaries and divisions can be bought and sold just like larger parent corporations. Therefore, it is important to verify your company’s status before proceeding further.
Companies need only disclose information on their company as a whole. This makes finding information on your subsidiary or division very difficult. Occasionally, a public company will discuss how its subsidiaries or divisions have been performing or how they are doing financially in their annual or 10-K reports. Typically, what you find will be through periodical articles, newspaper articles or trade publications.
Remember that although you will find information connected to the subsidiary or division name, you will also find information by searching for the parent corporation. Searching for both companies is a good idea.
