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What does "Ultimate Owner" mean in North Data? 

This article answers what “Ultimate Owner” means, how we present ownership information regarding public companies and why reported percentages can vary.

North Data uses the term “Ultimate Owner” as a simple, internationally understandable way to describe the people or organisations that ultimately hold a significant ownership stake or decisive influence in a company, based on publicly available reporting obligations.

Because ownership and disclosure rules differ between countries, “Ultimate Owner” is not a legal term and does not follow a single law. Instead, it serves as a neutral, catch-all label that allows us to present comparable ownership information across jurisdictions, while the exact legal basis and thresholds can always be reviewed in the original source documents.

United Kingdom

For public companies in the United Kingdom, North Data displays ownership information based on the Persons of Significant Control (PSC) regime. Under these rules, reporting obligations apply at ownership or control thresholds of 25%, 50%, and 75%.

North Data shows the individuals or companies that have reached or exceeded any of these thresholds, together with the highest threshold met. The percentages shown should therefore not be read as exact ownership figures. Instead, each threshold represents a range.

For example, an entry listed as ≥ 25% indicates that the person or entity holds at least 25% but less than 50% of the company, as no higher reporting threshold has been triggered.

Germany

In the European Union, transparency rules require shareholders to notify authorities when their voting rights exceed or fall below certain thresholds. These rules originate from EU transparency legislation, with Member States allowed to set additional national thresholds.

In Germany, the lowest reporting threshold is 3%, meaning only shareholdings at or above this level must be disclosed. As a result, the ownership percentages shown in North Data may not add up to exactly 100%. This can happen for two main reasons:

  • Holdings below the reporting threshold are not subject to disclosure and therefore do not appear in the data.
  • Joint or attributed holdings must often be reported in full by each relevant party. This can lead to several individuals or entities showing the same or similar percentages, which may cause totals to exceed 100%.