Subsidiaries, Branches, & Locations

Many people are interested in understanding the corporate structure - how the subsidiaries, divisions, locations all fit together. While finding out this information is often not easy, there are sources that can help.

There are two basic first steps, but

Company web pages can be helpful but are often not explicit when it comes to the company family tree. However, if access to the sources given here is limited it should be the first stop.
Annual reports and 10K filings with the SEC can also be helpful. Item 1 is the Business section and often times they do cover their business lines group, how they see them, and, for some companies, the number of stores/locations by state and sometimes, by country/region. Keep in mind that not all subsidiaries will be listed.

Beyond that there are more traditional sources listed below.

Print Resources

The following books provide more information on subsidiaries, branches, and locations, and link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog.

America's Corporate Families by Dun's Marketing Service
Call Number: HG4057 .A147
Published/Created: 1992
Directory of Corporate Affiliations by LexisNexis Group
Call Number: HG4057.A217
Published/Created: 1973-
This is a source that has been around and provides basic company information while also giving subsidiary information in a hierarchical structure. It has volume on US Public, US Private, and International companies. This is not a print source that is all inclusive--it focuses on large national and multinational companies. If you are looking for small local firms or private companies of moderate size, this is not the best source. This product is available on Lexis-Nexis, a subscription based service as well as from the publisher's website, both on a subscription basis.
Who Owns Whom. North & South America by Dun & Bradstreet Ltd.
Call Number: HG4081.Z65 W48
Published/Created: 1998-

Subscription & Internet Resources

Below are print and subscription resources that are good for trying to understand the structure of a company. The subscription resources marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.

Corporate Affiliations External
This is the corporate/product site for the print title "Directory of Corporate Affiliations." Requires a subscription.
CrocTrail External
This is a data source sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation for information about corporations and their subsidiaries. It provides an interface for browsing information from SEC filings about several hundred thousand U.S. publicly traded corporations and their foreign subsidiaries.
Dun & Bradstreet External
D&B is a credit reporting agency, therefore provides the corporate headquarters and each location with their own records. This means that you can look for parent companies and related companies. Their content is not free on their web page or via their product Relationship Manager, but Mergent Intellect, another company that uses D&B records, may be more accessible.
FDIC Bank Find
Banks in the US are predominantly public and highly regulated. We have included this directory like sources from the FDIC here because it is good for financial information on banks, as well as history, and acquisition information. This service allows you to locate FDIC-insured banking institutions and banking directories.

Mergent Intellect External This link opens in a new window
Mergent Intellect is a highly flexible web-based application that features a deep collection of worldwide business information that enables companies to generate insightful business intelligence. Coupling Mergent's expertise in developing products for the reference marketplace with D&B's private company database, Mergent Intellect offers a unique opportunity to access private and public U.S and international business data, industry news, facts and figures, executive contact information, the ability to access industry profiles and much more. (For better viewing use Mozilla Firefox as your browser.)
Uniworld External This link opens in a new window
Provides access to two multinational business contact directories, American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries and Foreign Firms Operating in the United States, which provide contact information for headquarters, branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates of multinational firms in over 100 countries and 1,200 industries. Data is updated daily, as corporate business changes occur.
As of Nov. 2015 you can search for American and Foreign Companies together in one search and also see their domestic and foreign subsidiaries.

Doing Company Research: A Resource Guide

Subsidiaries, Branches, & Locations

Print Resources

Subscription & Internet Resources