Let’s say that you are interested in owning a business in Serbia, but you just don’t have the patience or interest to start from scratch (in case you do have patience or interest, then check out our article on Starting a company in Serbia). In that case, normally, you’ll have to resort to a purchase of the already existing company, which leads us theoretically to two types of Serbian companies for sale that you might encounter: “shelf company” and, let’s call it, a “regular company”.

The “regular company” would simply be the company (limited or joint stock one) that was formed for the purpose of performing the business, which it did for some time, while owners simply decided now to sell it. Huge variations would fit into this group. Some companies would be months old, some would exist for years, some would have a large number of employees, some would just have a director, some would own huge value in assets, some would have no assets, some would have beautiful financial reports, some wouldn’t and so on… This gives the buyer opportunity to suit his needs browsing through the current offer in terms of desired price, main business activity, size of the company, its value, number of employees, ownership of assets and other.

Another type, “shelf company”, is a company (almost certainly of a limited type) created and then left on the “shelf” (hence the name) to wait for its potential buyer. This company ordinarily performed no business at all, it is usually relatively recently formed, it has no employees and no assets, created just for the purpose of sale.

It is easy to see why would somebody decide to buy a “regular company”, leaving us to explain where is the allure of the “shelf companies” among offered Serbian companies for sale. That will brings us back to the story of patience or interest. Let’s say that you are not financially stretched at the moment, so instead of waiting for a new company to be formed, headquarter’s address to be found, contracts with bookkeeping agency to be signed and bank accounts to be opened (among other things), you simply resort to purchase of existing company which already has sorted out all those things, while you sacrifice a bit more of your funds in return. Also by each month of the existence of that “shelf company”, you are an “inch” closer to its annual financial report, thus “inch” closer to the bank loan’s eligibility.

If the “shelf company” fit into your current intentions, we will be glad to offer one for you or to help you find one, and if you wish to purchase already properly developed business in Serbia, again we will be glad to offer our assistance. Purchase of the “shelf company” could be theoretically done on your own, as the majority of those companies are legally and financially clean (though not always), but purchase of commercially developed company without professional assistance is highly not recommendable, as only professional and thorough check-up of financial reports and other documents, examination of bank accounts and assets, can provide correct insight into the company real condition and value. We are at your disposal, for this or any other legal matter, so feel free to check our website, our Homepage, especially our Contact page, while with our law office in Belgrade, the law office in Novi Sad or other law offices, as we are glad to be at your service.