Types of Companies

Company forms of businesses have become immensely popular over the years. Their development has led to the creation of so many new types of companies. Companies are to be classified on the basis of liabilities, members and on the basis of control.

Companies Limited by Shares
Companies Limited by Guarantee
Unlimited Companies
One Person Companies (OPC)
Private Companies
Public Companies
Holding and Subsidiary Companies
Associate Companies
Companies in terms of Access to Capital
Government Companies
Foreign Companies
Charitable Companies
Dormant Companies
Nidhi Companies
Public Financial Institutions

We can classify all these companies in various categories.

Classification of Different Types of Companies

Types of Companies

Companies on the Basis of Liabilities

When we look at the liabilities of members, companies can be limited by shares, limited by guarantee or simply unlimited.

a) Companies Limited by Shares

Sometimes, shareholders of some companies might not pay the entire value of their shares in one go. In these companies, the liabilities of members is limited to the extent of the amount not paid by them on their shares.

This means that in case of winding up, members will be liable only until they pay the remaining amount of their shares.

Learn more about Multinational Companies here in detail.

b) Companies Limited by Guarantee

In some companies, the memorandum of association mentions amounts of money that some members guarantee to pay.

In case of winding up, they will be liable only to pay only the amount so guaranteed. The company or its creditors cannot compel them to pay any more money.

c) Unlimited Companies

Unlimited companies have no limits on their members’ liabilities. Hence, the company can use all personal assets of shareholders to meet its debts while winding up. Their liabilities will extend to the company’s entire debt.

Learn more about Small Scale Industries here in detail.

Companies on the basis of members

a) One Person Companies (OPC)

These kinds of companies have only one member as their sole shareholder. They are separate from sole proprietorships because OPCs are legal entities distinct from their sole members. Unlike other companies, OPCs don’t need to have any minimum share capital.

b) Private Companies

Private companies are those whose articles of association restrict free transferability of shares. In terms of members, private companies need to have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 200. These members include present and former employees who also hold shares.

c) Public Companies

In contrast to private companies, public companies allow their members to freely transfer their shares to others. Secondly, they need to have a minimum of 7 members, but the maximum number of members they can have is unlimited.

Companies on the basis of Control or Holding

In terms of control, there are two types of companies.

a) Holding and Subsidiary Companies

In some cases, a company’s shares might be held fully or partly by another company. Here, the company owning these shares becomes the holding or parent company. Likewise, the company whose shares the parent company owns becomes its subsidiary company.

Holding companies exercise control over their subsidiaries by dictating the composition of their board of directors. Furthermore, parent companies also exercise control by owning more than 50% of their subsidiary companies’ shares.

b) Associate Companies

Associate companies are those in which other companies have significant influence. This “significant influence” amounts to ownership of at least 20% shares of the associate company.

The other company’s control can exist in terms of the associate company’s business decisions under an agreement. Associate companies can also exist under joint venture agreements.

Companies in terms of Access to Capital

When we consider the access a company has to capital, companies may be either listed or unlisted.

Listed companies have their securities listed on stock exchanges. This means people can freely buy their securities. Hence, only public companies can be listed, and not private companies.

Unlisted companies, on the other hand, do not list their securities on stock exchanges. Both, public, as well as private companies, can come under this category.

Other Types of Companies

a) Government Companies

Government companies are those in which more than 50% of share capital is held by either the central government, or by one or more state government, or jointly by the central government and one or more state government.

b) Foreign Companies

Foreign companies are incorporated outside India. They also conduct business in India using a place of business either by themselves or with some other company.

c) Charitable Companies (Section 8)

Certain companies have charitable purposes as their objectives. These companies are called Section 8 companies because they are registered under Section 8 of Companies Act, 2013.

Charitable companies have the promotion of arts, science, culture, religion, education, sports, trade, commerce, etc. as their objectives. Since they do not earn profits, they also do not pay any dividend to their members.

d) Dormant Companies

These companies are generally formed for future projects. They do not have significant accounting transactions and do not have to carry out all compliances of regular companies.

e) Nidhi Companies

A Nidhi company functions to promote the habits of thrift and saving amongst its members. It receives deposits from members and uses them for their own benefits.

f) Public Financial Institutions

Life Insurance Corporation, Unit Trust of India and other such companies are treated as public financial institutions. They are essentially government companies that conduct functions of public financing.