A shell company is a company that another company takes over in order to use its name to gain an advantage.
[business]
The shell company, which has about £200,000 in cash, confirmed that it was in talksabout a reverse takeover.
shell company in British English
noun business
1.
a near-defunct company, esp one with a stock-exchange listing, used as a vehicle for a thriving company
2.
a company that has ceased to trade but retains its registration and is sold for a small sum to enable its new owners to avoid the cost and trouble of registering a new company
shell company in American English
a company existing as a legal entity but having no significant assets, independent business operations, etc., often owned or controlled by another company and used for various, often illegal, purposes
Examples of 'shell company' in a sentence
shell company
When her client arrived she was far from the confident woman in whose name she had set up the shell company.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
He had used overseas shell companies to hide millions of pounds of his daughter's earnings.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The exchange wants to clear out the dozens of small shell companies that litter AIM.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The loopholes allowed British businesses legally to buy loss-making shell companies and use those losses to offset against their own tax bills.