Locating Information on Foreign Companies

Parent vs. Subsidiary Companies

If a company is a subsidiary or division of another company, it will not be listed in most directories or have a separate annual report. When researching a subsidiary, look both under the parent company and the subsidiary, as subsidiaries are treated differently in different sources. To determine whether a company is a subsidiary or not, check these sources:

Lexis Nexis Corporate Affiliations. Vol. 6: International Public and Private Co. 338.74 D598
Reference Mgmt/ Schaffner
Who Owns Whom. Continental Europe 338.74 W628 Reference Mgmt

International Directories

including information on public and/or private companies

Lexis Nexis Academic

Click on Business, then on Company Financial, then select International Company Reports. Searchable only by company name or SIC code. Includes public and private company records from various sources on more than 30,000 companies from Asia and Pacific Rim, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and North and South America.

Corporate Information Unrestricted but requires registration

Information on public, private, foreign or domestic companies, including 15,000 research reports, 20,000 profiles, 1,700 profiles in French, 600 profiles in Spanish, over 1,000 categorized links, 350,000 other profiles, and a Company "Extensions" Guide.

Kompass

International business information on over 1.6 million public and private companies in over 60 countries. Also includes information on products, services and executives.

Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations

(...authorized to do business in the State of Illinois) 338.7 I29 Reference Mgmt

Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries 381.002D598 Reference Mgmt / Schaffner

Directory of Foreign Firms Operating in the United States 338.88873 D598 Reference Mgmt / Schaffner

Directory of Multinationals 338.88025S883w Reference Mgmt

Hoover's Handbook of World Business 338.74025H7893 Reference Mgmt/ Schaffner

Hoover's Online
The Kellogg School of Management subscribes to the Pro version for the NU community. Free version at www.hoovers.com (outside of NU domains).

Moody's International Manual 332.05M8168 Reference Mgmt/ Schaffner

Principal International Businesses 016.658D897p Reference Mgmt

World Business Directory 4 volumes 338.88205W927 Reference Mgmt

Company Reports, SEC Filings, Financials and other Background

NU Library has a large collection of company annual reports in hard copy. In order to locate annual reports in the library, search in NUCat, the library's online catalog under the company name as the author of the report.

The Library also has a collection of historical SEC filings on microfiche for companies traded on the New York and American stock exchanges dating from the 1970s up through 1995. The fiche collection is located in the Periodicals Department. Please ask at the Reference desk for information on finding the type of filing you need. For more information on annual reports go to Locating Annual Reports on Public Companies.

Thomson Research
Annual reports and other SEC filings available for some foreign public companies. Most available from the mid-1990s. Click on "Databases" to search Worldscope for Disclosure Reports on foreign public companies.

Mergent Online
Financial and background information on 30,000 US and foreign public companies, including annual reports back to 1997. Company information comprises that of all of the Mergent/Moody's Manuals except for the Municipal & Government Manual. Covers current information only. However, spreadsheet financials date back 15 years, annual reports date back to 1996 or 1997, and SEC filings date back to 1993.

ISI Emerging Markets
Multilingual database of emerging market country / business information. Click on "Companies" tab for company analyst reports, financials and news for companies in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Standard & Poor's Net Advantage
Includes the Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives and Corporation Records both of which includes some foreign company records. Mainly publicly-traded foreign companies.

News and Journal Articles

ABI/Inform (ProQuest version)
Indexes and abstracts of more than 1,800 business and management titles. The full text of the articles are included for nearly half of the citations in the database in a variety of formats, including text, text and graphics, and PDF. Under Search Methods, choose Guided and then choose a search by company under the drop-down menu.

Business Source Premier
Full text and bibliographic information from regional, national and international business and trade journals. Industry and company profiles from Datamonitor, market research reports from MarketWatch and country reports from CountryWatch.

LexisNexis
Full text general, business, financial and legal news information service for several thousand publications. Go under the News segment and choose Business News. The Guided Search option then allows for search by company name.

Business & Industry Database
Indexes and abstracts and from nearly 1,000 major U.S. and international trade journals, general business publications, and national & regional newspapers and newsletters. The full text is included for 75% of the articles. Limit search by company name.

Factiva
Full text of U.S. and international research and news articles from newspapers, newswires, magazines, trade journals, and company and industry financial reports. The Publications Library contains over 6000 full-text sources. In the Publications Library, choose Search by Company or for private companies, choose search by keyword.

Canadian Directories

Blue Book of Canadian Business 332.67 B658 Reference

Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives, United States and Canada
L 332.05 P827 Reference Mgmt / Schaffner
also available in Standard & Poor's Net Advantage

Canadian Trade Index Unrestricted but requires registration
Canadian manufacturers directory.

Europe / United Kingdom Directories

Major Companies of Europe 6 volumes 338.094 M234 Reference Mgmt

Europe's 15,000 Largest Companies 338.09402 E89 Reference Mgmt

Germany's Top 500 338.74 G373 Reference Mgmt

Major companies of Central & Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States
L 338.74029 M3432 Reference Mgmt

Europages.com
Business information on over 500,000 companies from 30 countries.

UK Company Researcher
The Times 1000 L 338.740942 T583 Reference Mgmt
The United Kingdom's top companies.

Asia / Oceania Directories

Major Companies of the Far East and Australasia 3 volumes L338.74025 M234 Reference Mgmt

Euromonitor Directory of Asian Companies L 338.7 E887 Reference MgmtJapan Trade Directory
L 382.0952 J353 Reference Mgmt

Japan Company Handbook 380.05 J351 Reference Mgmt / Schaffner

Directory of Japanese-Affiliated Companies in the USA and Canada 338.88952 D598 Reference Mgmt

China Investment and Business Guide 332.67309 C5392 Reference Mgmt

Latin American Directories

Major Companies of Latin America and the Caribbean L338.74 M234 Reference Mgmt

Argentina Company Handbook 338.74098 A691 Reference Mgmt

Brazil Company Handbook 338.74098 B827 Reference Mgmt

Mexico Company Handbook 338.74097 M611 Reference Mgmt

Middle Eastern Directories

Major Companies of the Arab World 382.0953 M234 Reference Mgmt

Specialized Directories

Thomson World Bank Directory L 332.1 P769a Reference Mgmt / Schaffner

Directory of Foreign Manufacturers in the United States 338.767D597 Reference Mgmt

Green Book: International Directory of Marketing Research Companies and Services
L 658.83 A512i Reference Mgmt / Schaffner

Green Book: Worldwide Directory of Focus Group Companies and Services L 658.83 Mgmt/ Schaffner

International Directory of Consumer Brands and their Owners L 658.827 I61 Reference Mgmt

Market Share / Rankings

Business & Industry Database
Select ranking from document type menu to retrieve business articles with company rankings information. Limit to geographic region. You may also select market share under concept terms menu.

Business Rankings Annual L 016.33874 B9792 Reference Mgmt / Schaffner

Europe's 15,000 Largest Companies 338.09402 Reference Mgmt

Global Market Share Planner--Major Market Share Companies: Eastern Europe, Middle East, & South Africa L658.8305 G562 Reference / Schaffner

World Market Share Reporter L 658.8305 W927 Reference Mgmt / Schaffner

Company Histories

Historical summaries of public companies may be found in filings such as Annual Reports.

Notable Corporate Chronologies L338.7 N899 Reference Mgmt / Schaffner
Includes chronologies of 1,500 companies worldwide.

International Directory of Company Histories L338.88025 I61 Reference Mgmt

Mergent Online
The history section for each public company report includes a chronology.

ABI/Inform (ProQuest version)
Searches back to 1971.

ABI/Inform Archive Complete
Searches back to 1905 for earliest business journal coverage.

Business Periodicals Index 016.381 B9795 Reference Stacks / Schaffner
Index of business publications back to 1958.

Industrial Arts Index 016.6 I38 Reference Stacks
Includes indexing of business publications from 1913 to 1957.

c-doyle4@northwestern.edu

Last updated: 07/31/08