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Definitions: 

• A subsidiary company is owned by another company, owned either completely or only in part. The owning company is called the parent company.
• A parent company owns another company (again, either completely or only in part).  Sometimes, there are several layers in the hierarchy of companies owning companies, so you may have designations such as ultimate parent, and immediate parent company.
• A division or branch of a company is an administrative unit of the company; such a designation usually implies that the unit has never been a separate entity, as a subsidiary company may once have been.   

Why do you need to know this? 

How do you find out? 

• Corporate Affiliations: Start with this directory database.  This is also available in print, as the Directory of Corporate Affiliations (MEM REF HG 4057 .A217). This is one of the best sources for information on corporate hierarchy, or reporting structure.
• Business & Company Resource Center: this database includes a directory of ~200,000 companies, and it links parent and subsidiary companies.
• ReferenceUSA: this is a directory database.  The business portion has brief records for about 12 million public and private companies, governmental bodies, schools, non-profits, etc.   It also links parents and subsidiaries.

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