What's the difference between a parent company and a holding company?

Question

What's the difference between a parent company owning 80% of a subsidiary and a holding company owning 80% of a subsidiary?

Are they different just by name? Or is there a real difference between the two?

Answer 1

not sure

Answer 2

Parent company owns 100% share capital of subsidiary company. so all the desicions regarding policy from inital stage i.e what to do and how to do is directed by parent company. Its a business tool to get your plans happened, achieved with additional power i.e money man and machinery (in short subsidiry company). Subsidiry company do not have seperate plans or goals to achive but to follow the parent company's plans and goals.

Answer 3

Parent company seems to imply more active and more integrated management between the two companies.

Answer 4

Holding companies usually aren't active and don't have employees. Parent companies usually are engaged in business.

Answer 5

here, read what wikipedia has to say:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holding_Company

I think of a holding company as owning some of the stock of another company, and a parent company as simply owning another company.