Formation and structure·FindingConfirmed

Companies involved in a merger or demerger are twice as likely to open a site in another municipality

Of the 2,742 companies with a merger or demerger, 3.5% also had a new site in another municipality between October 2025 and September 2026, against 1.7% among similar companies.

Site in another municipality between October 2025 and September 2026

Both measurements combined · 2,742 companies

After a merger or demerger3.5%

Similar companies1.7%

2.1×

as often as among similar companies.

95% interval: 1.7× to 2.5×
Companies: 2,742
Measurements: 2, independent

Source: Hunch Lab, cohort study of 1,141,228 Belgian companies. Compared within sector, size and age, with companies active in the same period.hunchleads.com/en/lab

Does it hold up?

Each measurement uses different companies and a different period. A link only counts if it shows up in both.

Measurement	Period	With the event	Similar	Factor
Measurement 1	event Mar–May 2025, outcome Oct 2025–Sep 2026	3.8%	1.6%	2.4×
Measurement 2	event Jun–Aug 2025, outcome Oct 2025–Sep 2026	3.2%	1.8%	1.8×

How often does this happen?

Belgian companies with the event, per month, over the last twelve complete months.

Merger or demerger672 a month on average

Site in another municipality476 a month on average

More on merger or demerger

7 other findings

FindingWith the eventSimilarFactorResult

Companies involved in a merger or demerger are more than eight times as likely to change the purpose in their articlesFormation and structure7.0%0.8%8.4×Confirmed Companies involved in a merger or demerger are more than five times as likely to change their nameFormation and structure5.1%1.0%5.2×Confirmed Companies involved in a merger or demerger are almost four times as likely to change their legal formFormation and structure1.99%0.55%3.6×Confirmed Companies involved in a merger or demerger are twice as likely to change their share capitalFormation and structure6.2%3.0%2.1×Confirmed Companies involved in a merger or demerger are 1.8 times as likely to open a new establishmentFormation and structure3.9%2.2%1.8×Confirmed

All findings on merger or demerger

Technical note

Methodology

Design: Retrospective cohort study
Population studied: 1,141,228 Belgian companies (the full business register)
Comparison group: Companies without the event that had another publication or event in the same entry period (active group), from the same stratum: NACE section, size class and age class; indirect standardisation
Cohorts: event Mar–May 2025, outcome Oct 2025–Sep 2026; event Jun–Aug 2025, outcome Oct 2025–Sep 2026
Observed and expected: 96 cases, 47 expected
Factor (95% interval): 2.1× (1.7× to 2.5×)
Multiple testing: q < 0.001 (Benjamini-Hochberg)
Second measurement: p < 0.001
Other comparison groups: economically active companies 3.1× (2.5× to 3.8×); all companies 3.2× (2.6× to 3.9×)
Absolute difference: 1.8 percentage points; following 56 companies with the event yields one extra case
Size of the groups: active 58,672, economically active 320,938, all 1,141,228 companies
Strata: 79 strata of at least 300 companies (section × size × age; smaller strata merged)
Data up to: September 2026

Cite this findingFree to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0).

Hunch Lab (2026). Companies involved in a merger or demerger are twice as likely to open a site in another municipality. Data up to September 2026. https://hunchleads.com/en/lab/herstructurering-vestiging-elders

Figures for this finding (CSV)

About Hunch Lab

Hunch Lab is the research programme of Hunch. Every finding is free to reuse with attribution. Questions are welcome.

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