Shelf Company in Poland

Ready made company in Poland

Ready made (shelf companies) still have some supporters amongst investors in Poland. However its attractiveness has decreased significantly few years ago when online company registrations were introduced to Polish Company Law system. Recently investors prefer to choose newly registered company, rather than dusty company with some potential risk of history. Advantage of saving time (quick company acquisition) has been removed as new, bespoke company may be incorporated in 1-5 working days. Nevertheless, for some category of investments or projects – buying shelf company is still the most reasonable option. 

Reasons for ready made company purchase 

There are still numbers of investors that prefer to purchase the company of the shelf rather than incorporate new one. This is predominantly related to certain restrictions that brand new companies may encounter in first months of their operations on Polish market. In consequence, knowledgable clients often require shelve company with some corporate history in order to be able:

  • to bid on contracts,
  • participate in public procurements,
  • apply for corporate credit,
  • apply for grant (public funding).

Freshly incorporated companies (as opposed to ready made companies with history) may have problems with above actions due to Polish Law restrictions or policies of institutions (e.g. Banks).

Shelf companies with licenses 

Ready made companies with licenses are very popular in Poland, as in this case  the advantage of saving time still plays a vital role. The licensing process may take from few weeks up to few months – depending on type of license. As a result, acquisition of already registered company, furnished with relevant license, may significantly speed up your investment venture in Poland.

The shelf companies with the following licenses are the most popular in Poland:

  • road transport license,
  • payment services license,
  • e-money license,
  • fuels trade license,
  • HR labour agency license.

Buying ready made company – how does it work ?

The process of acquisition of shelf company is really simple and it consist of below listed steps:

  • consulting with incorporation lawyers of our Polish Law Firm – in order to determine your needs,
  • picking your future company from the list of available shelf companies,
  • executing corporate changes and registering them in  Company Register of Poland (KRS), which usually consists of:
    • transferring shares,
    • changing directors,
    • amending Articles of Association, changing address, etc.
    • reporting to relevant Polish Authorities

How much time is required to buy a shelf company in Poland ?

Majority of corporate changes (incl. transfer of shares and change of Directors) are effective immediately after execution of relevant documents – as a result, we can say that buying of shelf company in Poland requires 1 day. Registration of such changes in the Polish Company Register does not impede its effectiveness and the new owner may freely operate the company during the registration process.

Nonetheless,  some corporate changes (e.g. amendment of the Articles of Association), for effectiveness, may require prior registration in the Polish Company Register, which usually takes couple of weeks – i.e. from 2 – 8 weeks.

As a result, we always recommend to consult and design the process of shelf company purchase together with our company incorporation attorneys.

What is included in the shelf company ?

Features of your ready-made company strongly depend on what is currently available. Nevertheless shelf companies that we offer in majority of cases meet the following criteria:

KRS number Yes
Paid up capital Yes
Corporate files Yes – consisting of book of shares, shareholders list, book of resolutions, corporate statements
Domiciliation At our Law Firm address
NIP tax number Yes
VAT and EU VAT number Yes
Accounting and reporting Opened accounts with our affiliated accounting firm in Poland
Banking Ready bank account, along with VAT split payment bank account
REGON number Yes

Is it safe to buy shelf company in Poland ?

Buying shelve company from unknown source may be risky for the future shareholders and Directors. If you decide to purchase a ready made company for a third party or from uncertain source you shall always run due diligence with a local Polish lawyer

On the other hand buying shelf company of our Law Firm are risk free. We guarantee that our shelf companies are risk free.  We can do that as all the companies in our offer were formed and registered entirely by our attorneys, who are experienced fiduciary agents. We are providing fiduciary services in Poland for over 30 years.  

What is the cost of shelf company in Poland ?

Law Firms in Poland are not allowed to publish price lists online. We would be happy to provide you with our offer – you just need to contact us – [email protected]

Expert team leader DKP Legal Michał Dudkowiak
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