A 10 per cent increase in foreign-owned companies in the UK

Citation

(1999), "A 10 per cent increase in foreign-owned companies in the UK", European Business Review, Vol. 99 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.1999.05499fab.012

A 10 per cent increase in foreign-owned companies in the UK

Keywords Corporate ownership, Foreign investments, United Kingdom

The number of foreign owned companies in the UK has increased significantly by nearly 10 per cent in the last year, according to the latest update of Who Owns Whom CD 1999 from Dun & Bradstreet, the business information company. Last year the proportion was 4 per cent up on 1997.

The number of foreign-owned and subsidiary companies increased from 23,300 to 25,802 - an increase of 9.7 per cent. There has been a slower growth in the number of companies set up by the UK overseas. During the same time, the number of UK overseas subsidiaries has increased by 5 per cent from 20,733 to 21,833 (see Table I).

Just under one third of foreign companies in the UK (7,478) are offshoots of US companies which have increased by 4.6 per cent during the last year. German companies now own more foreign companies in the UK than do Dutch companies (see Table II). The proportion of German-owned companies in the UK increased by nearly 9 per cent last year while Dutch companies increased by 3 per cent.

The top ten locations for UK-owned companies overseas has remained unchanged (see Table III), with the USA heading the list as the most popular location followed by The Netherlands, France and Germany.

As last year, the CD also divides foreign companies into sectors as listed in Table IV. It can be seen that The Netherlands has overtaken the USA as the largest owner of construction companies in the UK.

Who Owns Whom CD 1999 is updated quarterly and its information is taken from D&B's omnibus set of worldwide directories of parent businesses and their subsidiaries which have been published by Dun & Bradstreet every year since 1958. The disk allows the parentage of subsidiary companies to be traced across the world, as well as identifying the complete structure of multi-national companies.

The disk, which is based on the most authoritative and long-established source for company linkages across the world, is designed as an easy form of reference for credit management and finance research departments, as well as marketing and sales departments. It contains the latest data on mergers, acquisitions and new company formations.

Dun & Bradstreet is the world's leading provider of commercial credit and business marketing information and receivable management services. D&B Corporation employs more than 16,000 professionals in 40 countries. Further information from Philip Mellor, senior analyst at D&B, on 01494 423346 (mobile 0802 757679), or Tim Devlin on 01580 893176.