Location·FindingLess often

Companies that move their registered office are less likely to go through a merger or demerger

Of the 39,625 companies with a move of the registered office, 0.33% also had a merger or demerger within nine months, against 1.48% among similar companies.

Merger or demerger within nine months of the event

Both measurements combined · 39,625 companies

0.22×

Less often than among similar companies.

95% interval
0.19× to 0.27×
Companies
39,625
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.

MeasurementPeriodWith the eventSimilarFactor
Measurement 1event Feb–Jun 2025, outcome Jul 2025–Mar 20260.32%1.45%0.22×
Measurement 2event Jul–Dec 2025, outcome Jan–Sep 20260.34%1.51%0.23×

How often does this happen?

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

Registered office move3,570 a month on average
Merger or demerger672 a month on average

More on registered office move

4 other findings

FindingWith the eventSimilarFactorResult
Companies that move their registered office are almost three times as likely to be dissolved or put into liquidationLocation1.35%0.50%2.7×Confirmed Companies that move their registered office are twice as likely to go bankruptLocation0.83%0.41%2.0×Confirmed Companies that move their registered office are no more likely to change their nameLocation0.86%0.79%1.1×No link Companies that move their registered office are no more likely to change the purpose in their articlesLocation0.78%0.77%1.0×No link

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 Feb–Jun 2025, outcome Jul 2025–Mar 2026; event Jul–Dec 2025, outcome Jan–Sep 2026
Observed and expected
132 cases, 588 expected
Factor (95% interval)
0.22× (0.19× to 0.27×)
Multiple testing
q < 0.001 (Benjamini-Hochberg)
Second measurement
p < 0.001
Other comparison groups
economically active companies 0.42× (0.35× to 0.49×); all companies 1.1× (0.92× to 1.3×)
Absolute difference
-1.2 percentage points
Size of the groups
active 120,261, economically active 370,738, all 1,141,228 companies
Strata
131 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 that move their registered office are less likely to go through a merger or demerger. Data up to September 2026. https://hunchleads.com/en/lab/zetelverplaatsing-herstructurering

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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