Ready-made Austrian companies for sale

Shelf Companies Available Now

List checked 31 July 2026 · 4 companies, 3 available · EUR 11,800 to EUR 19,200

Each entry below is an Austrian GmbH already entered in the Firmenbuch. The reference is our listing code, not the register number: the Firmenbuch number (FN) is given to a buyer under a non-disclosure agreement, because publishing it lets anyone pull the company file and approach the current owner directly.

Prices exclude the share capital, which stays in the company, and the notary's fee for the transfer deed. AT-0351 carries cents in its capital figure because it was subscribed in Schillings before Austria adopted the euro; the amount has never changed, only the currency it is stated in.

What "No Trading History" Actually Means

A company registered in 2013 and still on the shelf in 2026 has 13 years of record behind it, and any buyer who checks the register will see that. What it does not have is trading: no invoices, no contracts, no staff, no revenue. Those are two different statements, and a listing that collapses them into "no history" is either careless or hiding the filings.

The filings exist because Austrian financial-reporting rules attach to the legal form, not to activity. The third book of the Unternehmensgesetzbuch applies to Kapitalgesellschaften as such (§ 189 Abs 1 Z 1 UGB), so a GmbH prepares annual accounts from the year it is registered whether or not it has done anything. Those accounts go to the commercial court of the company's seat within nine months of the balance-sheet date (§ 277 Abs 1 UGB).

That obligation is enforced, which is what makes it a buyer's question rather than a footnote. A company that misses the deadline draws a coercive fine on its directors of EUR 700 to EUR 3,600, or EUR 350 to EUR 1,800 if it qualifies as a micro-company, and the court re-imposes it every further two months until the accounts arrive (§ 283 Abs 1 UGB). So the meaningful question about a 13-year-old dormant company is not whether it traded. It is whether someone filed dormant accounts for it 13 times, and whether any Zwangsstrafe is outstanding against the director you are about to replace.

Ask for the filing record before you pay, and read the due diligence list below for the rest of the documents that settle it.

How the Ownership Transfer Works

The Firmenbuch, Austria's commercial court register, records who owns and directs every GmbH, so transferring a shelf company means changing that record rather than creating a new one. The steps are the same for each company listed above:

1. Notarial share transfer agreement — a notary prepares and executes the deed transferring the shares from the current owner to the buyer.
2. Director change — the outgoing director resigns and the buyer's chosen director is appointed by shareholder resolution.
3. Firmenbuch filing — the notary submits the change of shareholders and management to the commercial court for entry in the register.
4. Bank notification — the bank is told of the change in beneficial owner and re-runs its know-your-customer check on the new owner and director.

The full process takes 5 to 7 business days from signing to a completed Firmenbuch entry. General information on the Firmenbuch itself is published by the Austrian Unternehmensserviceportal.

What the Purchase Does Not Include

A ready-made company is a registered legal entity and no more than that. Most of what a buyer assumes arrives with it is either a separate registration or a separate fee, and the assumptions are worth setting out before they turn into a delay.

• No VAT number. A UID is issued by the Finanzamt to a business that is trading or credibly about to. Section 27 Abs 1 UStG ties the obligation to issue one to the entrepreneur's supplies and acquisitions — the trigger is activity, never the mere existence of a company. A company that has never invoiced has no reason to hold a UID, and the registration is applied for after completion in the new owner's name, on the new business activity. Any listing offering a ready-made company "with a VAT number" is describing something a genuinely dormant company does not have.
• No trade licence. Most commercial activity in Austria needs a Gewerbeberechtigung, and it attaches to the activity and the person exercising it, not to the entity. Buying the company does not carry a licence across — see what has to be in place before you can trade.
• A bank account comes with some of these companies and not others. Which is which follows from the individual company's own history rather than from its price or its registration year, so it is stated against each entry in the list above instead of being promised for the list as a whole. Either way, a change of beneficial owner triggers a fresh know-your-customer review and the bank forms its own view of the incoming owner: an account already open is a head start, never a guarantee.
• The notarial deed and the filings are separate. Section 76 Abs 2 GmbHG requires a notarial deed for every share transfer between living persons, and the Firmenbuch entries for the change of shareholder and director carry their own fees. The prices on this page are for the company.
• A name change is a further step. It takes a shareholder resolution, an amendment to the Articles and a registration, and it adds 5 to 10 business days.

None of this makes a ready-made company a worse buy than a new formation — a new formation needs the same VAT registration, the same trade licence and the same bank onboarding. It only means the thing being bought is the registration date and the filing record behind it, and a listing that implies otherwise is selling something it cannot deliver.

Due Diligence: What to Check Before You Pay

A clean shelf company is one that has done nothing since incorporation, and a buyer should be able to confirm that rather than take it on trust. Ask the seller for:

• A current Firmenbuch extract (Firmenbuchauszug) showing the registered capital, director, and registration date matching what was advertised.
• The filed accounts for every year since registration. This is the check most buyers skip and the one that separates a properly kept dormant company from a neglected one. A company registered in 2013 should have thirteen sets on file.
• Confirmation that no coercive fine is outstanding. Late filing draws a Zwangsstrafe on the directors under § 283 Abs 1 UGB, re-imposed every two months until the accounts arrive; an unpaid one does not vanish because the shares changed hands.
• Written confirmation that the company has never issued an invoice, signed a contract, or employed staff.
• Confirmation from the tax office (Finanzamt) that no VAT number has been activated, or that any VAT registration was cleanly deregistered with nothing outstanding.
• The current Articles of Association (Gesellschaftsvertrag), and confirmation that the outgoing director is willing and able to resign at completion.

A company that fails any of these checks is not necessarily a problem, but it is not a shelf company in the sense advertised, and the price should reflect that.

Why Buy a Shelf Company

• Immediate availability — the company is already registered in the Firmenbuch; the ownership transfer takes 5 to 7 business days rather than a full formation.
• An earlier registration date — useful where a counterparty's own policy sets a minimum company age, such as some tenders or supplier credit applications. It does not by itself create a credit history — see When not to buy a shelf company below.
• A filing record that already exists — the accounts have been prepared and lodged every year since registration, which is what a counterparty checking the register actually sees. A company incorporated this month has nothing to show them.
• Clean history — none of the companies listed have traded, so there are no liabilities, debts, or tax obligations from prior activity, subject to the due diligence checks above.

When Not to Buy a Shelf Company

A shelf company solves one problem — an earlier registration date — and it is worth being precise about what that does and does not achieve. Age on the Firmenbuch does not, by itself, create a credit history: banks and suppliers extend credit based on trading record, financial statements, and payment history, none of which a shelf company has, regardless of its incorporation year. A company that has never traded is, financially, a new company with an old registration date.

Renaming the company after purchase — common, since the buyer usually wants its own brand — gives up much of whatever apparent age advantage the purchase offered: the public-facing name and any web presence start from zero even though the Firmenbuch entry does not. If the name itself is the reason for buying, check it is one you are willing to keep.

For most founders who do not have a specific reason to need a particular registration date, a new formation is the cheaper route: the package fee plus the approximate official Firmenbuch fee already cost less than half of even the least expensive company listed above, before the notary's fee is added, and the resulting GmbH is no different in law from an older one once it starts trading.

Shelf Company Versus New Formation

The table below sets a shelf company purchase against a new GmbH formation on the points that actually differ; factors that are identical either way, such as limited liability, are left out.

See the full breakdown of formation costs on our pricing page, including the official government fees and the NeuFöG exemption for genuinely new businesses — an exemption a shelf company purchase does not qualify for, since it is a change of ownership rather than a new operating structure.

What a Non-Resident Buyer Needs to Prepare

Non-resident buyers complete these purchases regularly, and the paperwork is the main practical difference from a domestic buyer. Have ready: a certified copy of your passport; an apostilled or consular-legalised power of attorney if you will not sign the transfer documents in person; a recent proof-of-address document; and source-of-funds documentation for the bank, which re-runs its know-your-customer check on every change of beneficial owner. Documents not already in German are typically requested with a certified translation.

If you intend to act as managing director and work in Austria yourself, rather than run the company remotely, immigration law may separately require a residence title for third-country nationals carrying out self-employed activity for more than six months. That question is independent of the share purchase itself and depends on individual circumstances, so treat it separately from the transfer.