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A shelf company in Denmark, which Danes call a skuffeselskab or “drawer company”, is an anpartsselskab (ApS) that was formed and entered in the Central Business Register (CVR) but has never traded, and is then sold to a buyer who takes over all its shares and installs new management. Buying an off-the-shelf company in Denmark gives you a company that already holds a CVR number, a registered incorporation date and share capital that was paid in and proved to the Danish Business Authority when the company was formed. A new ApS has needed DKK 20,000 of capital since 27 February 2025; a company registered before that date carries at least the higher minimum that applied when it was formed, as its articles and its CVR entry show. Once the shares have changed hands, the company is run under exactly the same rules as an ApS formed today.
What a never-traded company cannot offer is a trading record: no customers, no staff, no accounts showing turnover. If the company has completed a financial year, it should have filed an annual report, and the buyer can read it in the CVR before signing.
Shares in a Danish capital company can be transferred without anyone’s consent unless the articles provide otherwise. Where the articles do require the company’s consent, the decision must be made as soon as possible, and consent counts as given if no answer arrives within four weeks of the request. The Companies Act prescribes no notarial form for the transfer itself. What it regulates is notice and registration, in this order:
| Step | What happens | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Read the articles | Look for consent or pre-emption clauses before anything is signed | Companies Act ss. 48, 67, 68 |
| 2. Transfer agreement | Seller and buyer sign; no notary is required by the Act | Companies Act ss. 53, 65 |
| 3. Notice to the company | Within 2 weeks of the change of ownership; the ejerbog entry is dated. Until the company is told, the transfer is not valid against the seller’s creditors | Companies Act ss. 53, 65 |
| 4. Legal owner register | A buyer reaching 5% notifies the company within 2 weeks; the company registers the change as soon as possible, which the Authority reads as within a couple of days | Companies Act ss. 55, 56, 58; Order 987/2025 |
| 5. Beneficial owners | The buyer’s beneficial ownership is registered as soon as possible, with its start date; people without a CPR number attach a copy of their passport or ID card | Order 987/2025 s. 6 |
| 6. New management | Registered within 2 weeks of the decision, with the minutes and the new manager’s identity data | Companies Act s. 9; Order 865/2024 ss. 17, 20 |
| 7. Name or object | Changed only by the general meeting; the minutes and new articles in full are filed | Order 865/2024 s. 20 |
| 8. Tax authority | Where the company is VAT registered, changed registration particulars are notified within 8 days | VAT Act s. 47(6) |
There is no stamp duty on a transfer of shares in Denmark. The Business Authority’s published processing time for changes to an ApS is within 24 hours when the filing passes its automatic checks, and 2 to 4 weeks when it is taken for manual handling.
Buyers coming from other countries are often surprised that one Danish company has three separate ownership records, each with its own audience. All three have to be brought up to date after a sale.
| Record | Who is entered | Who can see it |
|---|---|---|
| Ejerbog (owners’ register) | Every shareholder, with the holding, the date of acquisition and the voting rights | Public authorities and every shareholder of the ApS; it is not public |
| Legal owners (ejerregister) | Owners with 5% or more of the capital or the votes | Anyone, through the CVR |
| Reelle ejere (beneficial owners) | Individuals with more than 25% or other decisive control; the direktion if none can be identified | Since 1 September 2025 only authorities, obliged entities such as banks, and people who show a legitimate interest |
The company has to review its beneficial owner data at least once a year. A company that fails to register its owners risks fines and, in the end, compulsory dissolution, and a management that keeps no ejerbog can be fined. A buyer who holds the company through a holding company appears as a legal owner through that company, while the individuals behind it appear as reelle ejere.
An ApS can be run by a direktion of a single person, of any nationality and living anywhere. The Companies Act requires every registered manager to be someone who actually functions as a manager, so a seller’s employee kept on the register as a placeholder is not an option. For a new manager without a CPR number, the filing gives the date of birth, nationality at birth and passport or ID number and attaches a photo of the document. Where it has doubts, the Business Authority can require the person to verify their identity, if necessary by appearing in person, and for up to five years it can ask for proof that a registration was lawfully made.
The registered address has to be a place in Denmark where the company can actually be contacted, and the Authority may check that on site, so a buyer who does not keep the seller’s address needs a new one before the change is filed. The new management also has to take over the company’s MitID Erhverv. A manager without a CPR number first creates a private MitID without CPR in the MitID app; until someone with administrator rights hands over access, the new management cannot read the company’s Digital Post or file online.
Where a Danish company is sold with an account, the account belongs to the company and stays with it when the shares change hands. The bank then reviews the new owners under the anti-money-laundering rules and may keep the account, ask for more information or close it. In Danish practice banks ask for the ejerbog showing the beneficial owners, expect those owners to be registered correctly on virk.dk, and want identity documents and details of the citizenship and tax residence of owners, managers and signatories; online banking is usually tied to MitID. A company without an account applies as a new business customer with its CVR number. Our page on bank accounts for Danish companies covers the conditions, and our guide to shelf companies with bank accounts explains how such sales work across countries.
Denmark registers new companies fast. The Business Authority completes most formations automatically, with a published status of 24 hours for a new ApS, so speed alone is a weak reason to buy here, and the takeover filings run through the same checks and the same processing times. A ready-made company is worth considering when one of these applies:
It adds nothing when none of these points matter to you. An older CVR entry does not lighten a bank’s review, the Authority’s identity checks or the duty to register owners, and the rule that registered managers must really manage applies whatever the company’s age. In that case a new formation is simpler, as described on our page on company formation in Denmark.
We can supply a ready-made Danish ApS or form a new one instead. For a transfer we prepare the share transfer agreement, the general meeting minutes, the ejerbog entries and the filings for the management, legal owner and beneficial owner registers. We help prepare the bank application, and where we have a working contact at a suitable bank we introduce the company, while the bank alone takes the decision. If you would rather have the shares held in a nominee’s name after the transfer, that nominee must be registered for the service with the Danish Business Authority, and we work only with such providers; the legal owner register then publishes the nominee’s holding while the beneficial owner register records you. Background on the country is on our Denmark country page and, for Russian-speaking readers, on the Denmark page (in Russian).
Yes. Danish company law sets no nationality or residence condition for the owners or the direktion of an ApS, and the Companies Act contains no approval step for a sale to a buyer from abroad. The buyer and any new manager without a CPR number are registered with their passport details and a photo of the document, and the Business Authority may ask them to verify their identity, in person if needed. The company still needs an address in Denmark where it can be contacted.
No notarial form is prescribed by the Companies Act. The seller and buyer sign a transfer agreement, the company is notified of the change of ownership within two weeks and dates the entry in its owners’ register. That notice also protects the buyer, because until the company has been told, the transfer is not valid against the seller’s creditors. Articles can add consent or pre-emption clauses, so they are read first.
A buyer holding 5% or more must tell the company within two weeks, and the company registers the change as soon as possible, which the Business Authority explains as usually within a couple of days. The Authority’s published processing time for changes to an ApS is within 24 hours if the filing passes its automatic checks and 2 to 4 weeks if a caseworker reviews it. Legal owners then show publicly in the CVR.
Reelle ejere are the beneficial owners: individuals who hold more than 25% of a company, directly or indirectly, or control it in another decisive way. Every ApS registers them in the CVR. Since 1 September 2025 the data are no longer public; competent authorities, obliged entities such as banks and people who show a legitimate interest can see them after identifying themselves. Owners from 5% remain public in the separate legal owner register.
If the company has one, the account belongs to the company and is not transferred separately, but the bank re-checks the new owners and managers and decides whether to keep the account, ask for more information or close it. Expect requests for the ejerbog, the registered beneficial owners, identity documents and tax residence details. Online access to Danish banks usually runs through MitID, which a foreign manager has to obtain first.
There is no stamp duty on a transfer of shares in Denmark. After the purchase the company pays corporation tax of 22% on taxable profit, files its annual report within six months of the year end and registers for 25% VAT once its sales pass DKK 50,000 in twelve months, unless the seller had already registered it. Dividends to an owner living abroad carry Danish withholding tax.
Want to know which Danish companies are available now, or what a transfer to your buyers and managers would need? Ask us through our contact page, or on Telegram or WhatsApp at +48 663 247 166.