Glossary
The 30 terms that keep coming up when tracing who owns a brand, defined in plain language with the reason each one matters.
- Acquisition
- One company buying control of another company or of specific assets.
- Brand licensing
- Permission to use a brand you do not own.
- Consolidation
- The long-run concentration of an industry into fewer, larger owners.
- Demerger
- The British and European term for a spin-off.
- Divestiture
- Selling a business or brand, sometimes because a regulator requires it.
- Enterprise value
- The value of a business including its debt, as opposed to just its shares.
- EU Merger Regulation
- The law giving the European Commission exclusive review of large EU mergers.
- Exhibit 21
- The list of subsidiaries filed with a US annual report.
- Form 10-K
- The annual report US-listed companies file with the SEC.
- Form 8-K
- The filing that reports a material event, including a change in control.
- Hart-Scott-Rodino
- The US law requiring large mergers to be notified before closing.
- Holding company
- A company whose purpose is owning shares in other companies rather than trading itself.
- House of brands
- A company that keeps its brands distinct rather than putting its own name on them.
- Joint venture
- A business owned jointly by two or more companies.
- Leveraged buyout
- Buying a company mostly with borrowed money secured against the company itself.
- Merger
- Two companies combining into one legal entity.
- Minority stake
- A shareholding too small to give control.
- Parent company
- The company that controls another company or brand, directly or through intermediates.
- Persons with significant control
- The UK register of who really controls a company.
- Phase I and Phase II
- The two stages of European Commission merger review.
- Private equity
- Investment firms that buy companies with borrowed money and sell them within a few years.
- Remedy
- A condition a competition regulator attaches to clearing a merger.
- Second request
- A US regulator's demand for detailed information, extending merger review.
- Special-purpose vehicle
- A company created for a single transaction.
- Spin-off
- Separating part of a company into a new independent company owned by the same shareholders.
- Subsidiary
- A company controlled by another company.
- Tender offer
- A public offer to buy shares directly from shareholders, usually at a premium.
- Territorial rights
- Ownership of a brand that is limited to specific countries.
- Trademark registrant
- The entity recorded as owning a trademark, which is evidence but not proof of the parent.
- Ultimate beneficial owner
- The natural person who ultimately owns or controls a company.