World Guides and Directories - International Business - Companies

World Guides and Directories - Introduction

Most published information about international corporations is on large parent organizations and is arranged by country. So, you must determine whether the company is a parent company or a subsidiary and then find out in which country it is based. The type of information you need- - directory, background, financial, or rankings - - will also dictate your choice of source.

Remember:
Directories are more than just books. They usually include name, address, principal officers and directors, lines of business and other data, such as annual sales and number of employees.

Links to Guides

Croctail: Information about companies and their successors provides an interface for browsing information parsed from SEC filings about several hundred thousand U.S. publicly traded corporations and their foreign subsidiaries.
Forbes Global 2000
This is a list of the 2000 largest non-U.S. public companies ranked on a composite score for sales, profits, assets and market value.
Fortune 500
The biggest difference between the Fortune list and the Forbes list is that Fortune includes American businesses in its rankings.
ThomasGlobal
Thomas Global is the most complete, up-to-date directory of global industrial suppliers and product information. Browse through their detailed list of industrial products and services to access companies within many categories.

International Guides

Unlike the United States, privately held firms in Europe are generally required to file documents and forms with their country of origin. The information these documents reveal - finances, history, executives, related companies, etc. will vary. Certain documents for a given company may be displayed in the native language only.

CAROL - Company Annual Reports Online 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. Access is free of charge, but registration is necessary for access to annual reports.
Companies House The official UK agency, (and a division of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy), that incorporates and dissolves companies, and collects and makes available data that companies are legally required to make available to the public. Researchers can locate key details on all UK companies required to file (in the U.K. these are called “limited” companies) and can turn up data such as financial accounts, and details on directors and secretaries throughout the life of the company.

Latin American Network Information Center Maintained by the University of Texas, this site has information concerning companies in Latin America.

Corporations Canada This is the authoritative and official site for finding information on Federal corporations in Canada. A quick search will turn up key information on the target corporation, including business number, type of corporation, enabling legislation, location, names and contacts of directors, key filing dates and forms, status of filings, corporation history and more.
Industry Canada Canada's Business Information Site. Includes company information. Created by Industry Canada, a department of the federal government promoting business in Canada.

Zawya Provides news, company and industry information and a customized company list building feature covering countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Headquartered in Dubai, UAE. Company list” features access to over 30,000 companies in the region on a wide range of criteria (size, employees, region etc.) Much more detailed information is available to paid subscribers.