| Starting Point:
Before beginning your search for company information, spend a few minutes to determine if the company is U.S. or foreign owned. Directories are generally arranged geographically and may range from national or regional to multi- or international. To determine location:
Is the company located in U.S.?
- Dun & Bradstreet American Corporate Families and International Affiliates Vol. III.. Annual. The symbol ▲ denotes publicly-held companies. (Located in Corporate Area). -
Is the company regional or local?
Is the company foreign?
- International Directory of Company Histories, Ref HD2721 .D36
- Principal International Businesses. Dun & Bradstreet International--Organized geographically. Located in Corporate Area. Covers 50,000 public and private companies from 145 countries.
It is also important before starting your search to determine if the company is publicly-owned--ultimate parent, a subsidiary, affiliate, or division; or if it is privately-owned.
- Ultimate parent company--the highest company in a corporate family hierarchy.
- Subsidiary-- greater than 50% ownership by another company.
- Division--an operating or administrative unit of another company.
- Affiliate--owned by more than one company and no one company having more than 50% ownership.
Publicly-Owned Companies
It is easier to find information on publicly-owned U.S. companies. These companies are required by law to disclose--make certain information available publicly.
Subsidiaries, Divisions, Affiliates
Because subsidiaries do not have to make information public directly (except by local & state regulations), one must rely on 2 basic sources of information for these entities: directories and the news media.
Is the company Privately-Owned , Local or Regional?
Finding information about privately-owned companies is not as easy as finding information on publicly-owned companies. Because they are privately owned and operated, they are not required by SEC to disclose information about themselves or their market position publicly (except by local & state regulations).
The size of privately-owned companies ranges from an individual working out of a home to multi-billion dollar enterprises. It is easier to find information about large private companies, than small private companies. The best approach to research sources for these enterprises include business directories (limited information), trade associations, business news sources to locate articles in newspapers, journals, and the World-wide-web for information.
Privately-Owned , Nonprofit, Local or Regional Companies
Private companies just as public companies, must file paperwork at the state level in order to do business. BRB Publications offers a useful page of links to state Web sites that can be used as a starting point.
Some other useful Internet links for information on private and regional companies include:
- American City Business Journals http://www.bizjournals.com/--Publishes articles from thirty-five different business magazines published by American City Business Journals. The articles are full-text and focus on issues that are relevant to local businessmen in the region in which the magazine is published in print.
- Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com/free/-- Provides certain company information, including links to Web sites and recent articles for free.
- Inc , The Inc. 500, is a list of the 500 fastest growing private companies, (current issues on Current Periodicals shelves, older issues on microfilm; see also Sterling for online source.
- IPL Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/bus45.00.00/--The IPL began in a graduate seminar in the School of Information and Library Studies at the University of Michigan in the Winter 1995 semester. It is organized by broad subjects—select “business” and click on “ Commerce & Trade” to access “Resources related to international trade issues, including organizations that promote business opportunities in the United States and abroad.”
Registered Agent may be good sources for information on small and other hard to find companies:
All 50 states make some level of corporate and business filings available online. In a few instances only limited information (such as name availability) is retrievable. The majority of the states, however, use their Web presence to disseminate a range of public business records -- and most of them offer access at no charge.
- Search Systems -www.searchsystems.net -- Over 17,000 free public records databases, as well as some fee-based info.
- YBLost.com http://www.yblost.com/ -- Links to finding tools and public records resources.
Corporate Registration
- Company Registers Official company registers by country.
- National Association of Secretaries of State www.nass.org/ -- Each state files a variety of documents including corporate filings, UCC financing statements, trademarks, professional licensing applications and other legally required special filings. All of the states, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, currently register domestic and/or foreign corporations (profit and non-profit). Transactions include, but are not limited to: filings of incorporation, partnerships, and limited partnerships , articles of mergers/ consolidations, and articles of dissolution. Fees are required, but they vary from state to state.
Growing company "going public" soon?
Growing companies with plans to "go public" must issue an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The process for "going public" includes filing statements with the SEC before actually being listed. The company is then referred to as an IPO company. It is sometimes difficult to trace the happening of these companies. The following sources are helpful.
- EDGAR-Online offers IPO Summary .Includes over 4,000 IPO filings and information on over 1,500 underwriters.
- Lexis-Nexis Universe R -- Select Business...SEC Filings on and choose SEC Filings & Reports; from the pull down menus select Prospectuses or - Registration Statements. Records go back to April 1993.
Non-profit Organization
- BBB Wise Giving Alliance-- http://www.give.org/ -- Formed by the merger of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus' Foundation and its Philanthropic Advisory Service.
- Guide Star http://www.guidestar.org/ -- The national database for non-profit organizations--Guide Star is the leader in providing comprehensive data on more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations, connecting them with donors, foundations, businesses, and governing agencies in a nationwide community of giving.
Publicly Owned Companies: Ultimate Parent, a Subsidiary, Affiliate, or Division
A public or publicly-held has shares that are available to be bought and sold via the U.S. stock exchanges by individual investors from the public. Stock exchanges identify a security for trading purposes based on a unique letter code called a ticker symbol. Information on publicly-owned companies are not as difficult to locate as privately owned companies. Publicly-owned companies are required to file detailed reports of the company with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) . These reports are available to the general public.
Information for some companies may appear under its ultimate parent rather that itself as subsidiary, affiliate, or division. And is therefore not as easy to locate. The titles that follows is useful for tracing a company's ownership.
- Dun & Bradstreet. American Corporate Families and International Affiliates Vol. III.. Annual. The symbol ▲ denotes publicly-held companies. (Located in Corporate Area).
Printed Sources:
- International Directory of Company Histories, Ref HD2721 .D36
- Mergent's Handbook of Common Stocks , Ref HG 4501 .M59
- Mergent's Handbook Of Nasdaq Stocks , Ref HG4501 .M58
- Value Line Investment Survey, (On Reserve)
Databases:
The databases below provide company type and information ranging from a profile of the company to in-depth information.
- Factiva R (formerly Dow Jones Interactive) [No proxy service for remote access; user must be on campus network proper] -- Factiva provides information on private companies and detailed information on tens of thousands of publicly quoted companies in 72 countries, including the following:
Ratio Comparison Report: Compares key financial ratios of this company against its industry, sector, and the S&P 500 Index aggregates.
Detailed Company Profile Report: A detailed outline of this company's primary activities, top officers and executives, competition, history, products, services, and key financial ratios.
Detailed Company Profile Report with Financial Results Report: A detailed outline of this company's primary activities, top officers and executives, competition, history, products, services, key financial ratios, and full balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statements
Corporate Reports
All of the above databases include information on public and private companies. The .databases below provides Corporate Reports for public companies only.
- U.S. Securities and exchange Commission EDGAR. http://www.sec.gov/ -- All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. Here you'll find links to a complete list of filings available through EDGAR and instructions for searching the EDGAR database.
- Mergent Online (formerly FISonline) R
Financial data and information on over 10,000 U.S. public companies, 11,000+ non-U.S. public companies, and 17,610 municipal entities, as well as extensive corporate and municipal bond, UIT, and dividend information.
What is the Company Type?
Companies are classified by industries. Therefore, it is important to know the company’s SIC or NAICS codes.
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and NAICS codes provide a mechanism for classifying like businesses together. These codes may be used to identify a company’s competitors and to determine industry financial norms.
To identify a company’s SIC number (s) consult the printed 1987 Standard industrial Classification Manual or search the 1987 SIC manual online: Standard Industrial Classification Search http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sicsearch.html.
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. SIC numbers are still useful; to locate correspondence between 2002 NAICS and 1987 SIC, see: 1997 NAICS and 1987 SIC Correspondence Tables, http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naicstab.htm.
The printed source, North American Industry Classification System: United States, 1997 or online, NAICS 2002. ” NAICS 2002 is the same as NAICS 1997 for fourteen of the twenty sectors. Construction and wholesale trade are substantially changed, but the revisions also modify a number of retail classifications and the organization of the information sector.”
The directories below provides (SIC/NAICS codes for companies listed
- Dun & Bradstreet. American Corporate Families and International Affiliates Vol. III.. Annual. The symbol ▲ denotes publicly-held companies. (Located in Corporate Area).
- Standard & Poor's Register of corporations, Directors and Executives Vol. III . Annual. Corporate families members are cross-referenced in the "Cross-Referenced Index" to ultimate parent companies. Located in Corporate Area).
Company type may also be identified using electronic databases above.
Internet Sites for Company Information
- InvestorCalendar.com Annual Reports Service http://investorcalendar.ar.wilink.com/asp/A620_search_ENG.asp-- a free Service provided by WILink and Vcall. The Annual Reports Service provides access to annual reports and other information on select companies. New companies are added weekly.
- CAROL http://www.carol.co.uk/ -- Access is free of charge but one must register. CAROL is an on-line service offering direct links to the financial pages of listed companies in Europe and the USA. CAROL provides direct access to companies’ balance sheets, profit & loss statements, financial highlights etc. Links to stock exchanges around the world and provides a news update service covering IPOs, mergers & acquisitions, and other events typically the subject of securities filings.
- EdgarScan http://edgarscan.pwcglobal.com/servlets/edgarscan--The ABAS Technology Group of PriceWaterhouseCoopers maintains this interface to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (SEC EDGAR) Filings.
- Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com/free/ -- Provides certain company information, including links to Web sites and recent articles for free.
- U.S. Securities and exchange Commission http://www.sec.gov/ -- All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. Here you'll find links to a complete list of filings available through EDGAR and instructions for searching the EDGAR database.
- 10k Wizard http://www.10kwizard.com/ -- One must register to retrieve free documents. Offers public company securities filings made since 1994.
- internet.com http://www.internet.com/ -- provides enterprise IT and Internet Industry professionals with the news, information resources and community they need to succeed in today's rapidly evolving IT and business environment.
Company Annual Reports
In addition to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , see also:
- Annual Reports Gallery -- AnnualReports.com (a division of IR Solutions) provides free Annual Reports online. Hard copies of annual reports maybe ordered.
- PRARS Annual Report Service (Public Register's Annual Report Service)
- Wall Street Journal Annual Report Service -- Offers free annual reports to the Journal's readers. It brings you the annual report and, if available, quarterly report of any company for which the club symbol appears in the Journal's stock listings in the Money and Investing section. Reports are sent the next working day (subject to availability) via first-class mail.
Foreign Companies
Printed Sources:
- Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries. Ref HG4538 A1 D5 --Provides information for over 18,000 affiliates and subsidiaries globally.
- International Directory of Company Histories, Ref HD2721 .D36-This multi-volume work provides detailed information on the development of the world's 4,550 largest and most influential companies.
- Principal International Businesses. Dun & Bradstreet International--Organized geographically. Located in Corporate Area. Covers 50,000 public and private companies from 145 countries.
Databases:
- Lexis-Nexis Universe R -- Company Financial Information: SEC 20F. The 20-F file-- from 1991 through current contains the full-text of 20-Fs (excluding some exhibits) for all issuers registered in foreign countries whose securities trade on the New York or American stock exchanges. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires foreign issuers to file reports disclosing their financial condition, results of operations and any other information that is of significance to investors.
- GlobalEDGE (Free Registration) -- globaledge.msu.edu/. Created by the Center for International Business Education and Research at Michigan State University (MSU-CIBER), GlobalEDGE™ is a knowledge web-portal that connects international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities. For specific countries see: globalEDGE International Business Resource Desk http://globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/.
- New Vibes -- libweb.uncc.edu/ref-bus/vibehome.htm. VIBES provides over 2,800 links to Internet sources of international business and economic information that are in English and available free of charge.
Company History
Company history may be found in the 10-k reports and/or annual reports via Lexis-Nexis Universe R, Edgar SEC Filings & Reports for public companies. For retrospective annual and 10k-reports, see the microfiche collection file in microfiche cabinets alphabetically by company names. Some company web sites may provide company history. See Internet Sites for Company Information above.
- Businesshistory.net -- http://www.businesshistory.net/--Provides brief history for companies by industry.
|
