Vale S.A.

200px
Type	Sociedade Anônima
Traded as	BM&F Bovespa: VALE3, VALE5 NYSE: VALE, NYSE: VALEP Euronext: VALE3, VALE5 BMAD: XVALO, XVALP SEHK: 6210, SEHK: 6230
Industry	Metals and Mining
Founded	1942
Headquarters	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Murilo Ferreira, (CEO) Fabio Barbosa, (CFO)
Products	Nickel, iron ore and iron ore pellets, manganese ore, ferroalloys, aluminum, fertilizers, copper and coal among others
Revenue	US$ 60.4 billion (2011)[1]
Operating income	US$ 30.1 billion (2011)[1]
Net income	US$ 22.9 billion (2011)[1]
Total assets	US$ 128.7 billion (2011)[1]
Employees	134.000[2]
Subsidiaries	Vale Fertilizantes Vale Limited
Website	Vale.com

Vale S.A., full name Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (BM&F Bovespa: VALE3, VALE5, NYSE: VALE,NYSE: VALEP, Euronext: VALE3, VALE5, BMAD: XVALO, XVALP,SEHK: 6210, SEHK: 6230) is a Brazilian multinational diversified metals and mining corporation and one of the largest logistics operators in Brazil.^[3] In addition to being the second-largest mining company in the world,^[4] Vale is also the largest producer of iron ore,^[5] pellets,^[6] and second largest of nickel.^[7] Vale also produces manganese, ferroalloys, copper, bauxite, potash, kaolin, alumina and aluminium. In the electric energy sector, the company participates in consortia and currently operates nine hydroelectric plants.^[8] Vale is also the corporation, in the world, with the most "contempt for the environment and human rights" and was named world's most evil company ^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}.

Currently the company is listed on the stock exchanges of São Paulo, New York, Paris, Hong Kong and Madrid.

History[link]

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (or CVRD, as the company was better known prior to 2007) (in English, Doce River Valley Company) was founded in Itabira, Minas Gerais, as a public company by the Brazilian Federal Government on June 1, 1942. One year later the Vitória a Minas railroad was inaugurated.^[15] CVRD, just seven years after its foundation, was already responsible for 80% of Brazilian iron ore exports.^[15] In 1966, the company inaugurated in Espirito Santo the Port of Tubarão, which was to become the most important port for CVRD^[15] and is still used to export iron ore mined from the Iron Quadrangle in Minas Gerais.

The Carajás Mine, on which Vale still has over 1.5 billion tonnes of iron ore in reserves,^[16] started to have Vale as a majority stakeholder in 1970.^[15] In 1974, Vale became the world's biggest exporter of iron ore, a title which it still holds today.^[15] Then, in 1982, Vale began to diversify itself after it started to produce aluminium in Rio de Janeiro.^[15] Throughout its history, CVRD’s activities, once restricted to the Southeast, were expanded to the Northeast, Central-West, and North of Brazil, diversifying its mineral product portfolio and consolidating logistics services.

Vale in 1985 started to explore the Carajás Mine in the state of Pará just after the Carajás railroad was opened and in 1986 Ponta Madeira port terminal, which is still used to export iron ore mined at the Carajás Mines, was inaugurated in the state of Maranhão.^[15] This railway is 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge.

Vale's privatization in 1997[link]

Vale had its control transferred from the Brazilian Federal Government to the private sector (privatization) on May 6, 1997, when the Consórcio Brasil (Brazil Consortium), led by the National Steel Company - CSN acquired 41.73% of the Federal Government’s common stock for R$ 3,338 billion,^[15] or $3.14 billion at that time.^[17] The decision to privatize Vale caused much controversy and some politicians opposed the privatization.^[18] Vale remained a public traded company both in the Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (BOVESPA) and NYSE (through American Depositary Receipt - ADR).

Focus and diversification on the mining business[link]

After being privatized, Vale decided to focus exclusively on the mining business.^[19] Vale's operations on the energy and logistics sectors are meant to primarily reduce the costs and the risks of the company's mining operations and not to generate revenues, so for example even though Vale has invested over $880 million on various energy projects,^[20] the energy business generates not even 1% of Vale's total revenues.^[21] The company's logistics operations contribute with around 7% of total revenues.

Vale's plan to focus on the mining business had three phases:

• Sale of non strategic assets - mainly the steel and wood pulp businesses.
• Consolidation through acquisition of the Brazilian iron ore industry. - completed with the purchase of MBR.
• Diversification of its mining business in order to reduce Vale's dependence on the iron ore business - achieved with the acquisition of Inco.

Steel and wood pulp businesses are sold[link]

In line with Vale's decision to focus exclusively on its mining business,^[19] the company between 2000 and 2007 sold over $2.9 billion in businesses that operated on the steel and wood pulp sectors^[22] and effectively withdrew itself from those industries.

Vale's wood pulp and paper businesses were all sold in 2001, sales which totaled $990.5 million. Bahia Sul was sold for $320 million, while Cenibra was bought away for $670.5 million.^[19]

Vale's steel businesses took longer to be sold away, given the fact that Vale owned participation in many steel companies. The $1.91 billion divestment program began in 2000, when the company sold its stake at Açominas and Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional for $10 million and $249 million, respectively.^[19] Then in 2004 Vale earned $579 million by selling its stake at CST.^[23] In 2006 all Vale's stake at Gerdau and Siderar were sold for $67 million and $108 million respectively, also on that year Vale got $176 million by selling some of its shares of Usiminas. An additional $728 million was earned in 2007 when Vale sold yet more shares of Usiminas, Vale now owns just 3% of Usiminas.^[21]

Vale consolidates the Brazilian iron ore industry[link]

The consolidation process that Vale started in 2000 consumed over $4.9 billion^[22] when it finished in 2007 Vale had under its control over 85% of Brazil's 300 million tonnes annual iron ore production.^[24] Below is a table containing Vale's acquisitions prior to the purchase of Caemi, which was the most significant one of Vale's consolidation drive in Brazil.

MBR's acquisition

On March 31, 2006, Vale, which already owned 60.2% of Caemi, acquired in a stock swap the remaining 39.8% of Caemi for $2.55 billion.^[21] In all Vale spent over $3.2 billion acquiring 100% of Caemi. The acquisition of Caemi gave Vale 84.75% of MBR, Brazil's second largest iron ore producer, mining over 60 million tonnes.^[27] Together with the 5% stake of MBR acquired in 2001, the acquisition of Caemi at the end of 2006 gave Vale a 89.8% ownership of MBR.^[29]

Then in 2007 Vale purchased another 3.1% of MBR for $231 million from Mitsui and other Japanese investors. That meant that the company raised its stake at MBR to 92.9%, the remaining 7.1% stake at MBR was acquired in lease agreement by Vale for the next 30 years for a down payment of $60 million plus an annual fee of $48.1 million.^[29] In this way, Vale now owns 100% of MBR for the next 30 years (period of the Lease Agreement).

The acquisition of MBR marked the end of an acquisition campaign that began in 2000, this acquisition campaign was the consequence of Vale's decision to consolidate the iron mining business in Brazil. After MBR's purchase Vale became the owner of all Brazilian iron ore exporters.^[30]

Diversification[link]

Vale's diversification program sought to increase the participation of non-ferrous metals on total revenues reducing, in the process, Vale's dependence on the price of the iron ore for both net income and revenues. Business diversification has been achieved mainly with the acquisition of Inco and to a lesser extent with the acquisition of Caemi and managed to increase the participation of non-ferrous metals on total revenues from 7% in 2000 to around 34% in 2006.^[21][31]

Vale branched into copper mining in 2001 when it bought for $48.5 million the Sossego Mine located in the Carajás complex.^[26] The Sossego Mine, inaugurated in 2004, was the first Brazilian copper mine. The company expects to extract around 650 thousand tonnes of copper a year from that mine by 2010.^[15]

The acquisition of Caemi in 2006 also helped Vale's diversification strategy by making the company a kaolin producer through former Caemi subsidiaries CADAM S.A. and PPSA. With that acquisition Vale now owns 61.48% and 85.57% of those subsidiaries respectively.^[32][33]

In 2005, Vale bought Canico Resources, a Canadian nickel mining company, for $800 million.^[34][35] This acquisition increased Vale's business diversifiction by bringing non-ferrous metals to its product line up.^[36]

Also in accordance with its diversification strategy, Vale has entered the coal mining business. In 2007 the company purchased the Australian coal mining company AMCI Holdings for $656 million.^[34][37] Vale has coal operations in Australia and China, as well as coal mining projects in the Tete province of Mozambique.

Inco is acquired for $18.9 billion[link]

In October 2006, Vale acquired Canada's second largest mining company, Inco, for $18.9 billion,^[16] paying Inco's shareholders $17.7 billion in cash ^[38] and absorbing Inco's debt of $1.2 billion.^[16] This purchase was the largest acquisition ever made by a Brazilian company.

In order to assure the Canadian government's approval of the Inco acquisition, Vale agreed to keep Inco open as its nickel mining division, with its head office to remain in Canada and also agreed that the Inco division would assume responsibility for all Vale's nickel mining business.^[4]

Inco, which is now called Vale Inco, specialized in nickel mining. The acquisition of Inco was the most remarkable event of Vale's divesification strategy because it turned Vale into the world's second largest mining company^[4] and the world's second largest nickel producer^[39] behind Russia's MMC Norilsk Nickel.

Vale today[link]

Vale, besides being present in 16 Brazilian states is also present in 6 continents: South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Vale has managed to establish itself as a global mining company through joint ventures and acquisitions abroad. As it can be seen on Vale's Global Operations map,^[40] Vale has participation on mining operations in Finland, Canada, Australia, Mongolia, China, India, Angola, South Africa, Chile, Peru and other countries.

Vale world offices[link]

Vale is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro together with Log-in subsidiary that deals with logistic and it's also located in Rio de Janeiro, also with some valuable areas located in Belo Horizonte. Vale also has offices in places such as:

• Barranquilla
• Brisbane
• Buenos Aires
• Johannesburg
• Lima
• London
• Maputo
• Seoul
• Shanghai
• Singapore
• Tokyo
• Toronto
• St-Prex

On November 2007, the company retired the brand CVRD in favor of the new brand Vale.^[41] The company has announced it will spend $50 million establishing its new logo and brand worldwide.

Vale has an investment budget of $11 billion for 2008, the largest annual investment program ever undertaken by Vale or by any mining company in the world. The 2008 budget is part of the firm’s strategic plan and underpins the 5 year, $59 billion investment program, and consequently involves a significant increase in capex for organic growth as compared with the period 2003-2007, estimated at $18 billion.

Mining business[link]

Iron Ore: Vale is the world leader in the iron ore and pellets market. The company which produced around 90 million tonnes in the mid 90s^[42][43] is now producing over 350 million tonnes of iron ore and pellets.^[44] This means that Vale produces over 60% of all the iron in Brazil and around 15% of all the iron in the world.^[24] Brazil has one of the largest iron ore reserves in the world, the mineral that is the most produced and consumed in the world.

Manganese and Alloys: In 1999, Vale incorporated the manganese and alloy business into its structure. Consolidated as the second largest manganese producer in the world, Vale annually produces close to 2.3 million tons of manganese ore and 500,000 tons of manganese alloys.

Nickel: Vale has become the world’s largest producer of nickel, with a production of 250,600 tons. Found in nature in association with iron and sulphur, nickel is a transition element that presents ferrous and non-ferrous metal properties such as resistance to corrosion, alloy formation, ductility and electro-coating settlement among others. By virtue of this characteristic to confer properties to the more noble metallic steels, nickel is demanded mainly by the metallurgical sector, and 63% of such demand is destined to the production of stainless steel.

Copper: Vale's copper production began in the first half of 2004, with the start-up of the Sossego Mine, whose average installed capacity is 140 thousand tons per year of copper in concentrate. The start-up of the copper cathode production plant with extraction by solvent and electrowinning - Project 118 - is estimated for the beginning of 2007. This project will have an installed capacity of 45 thousand tons/year of copper cathodes. Other projects such as Salobo (in feasibility studie) and others under intensive geological survey works in the Carajás region, in Chile and in Peru. In 2006, the consolidation of Vale Inco also increased the total sale of concentrated copper, which amounted to 169 thousand tons. Today, Vale is producing roughly 250 thousand tons of Copper every year. Vale has also entered into an agreement with African Rainbow Minerals to build a copper mine in Zambia.^[45]

Vale's Carajás Iron Mine, Pará, 2009 NASA satellite photo

Coal: Vale is present in Venezuela, Australia, South Africa, Mozambique and Angola with offices, ore search works and development of new businesses of coal. Currently it has minority stakes on Chinese coal producers, such as Longyu and Shandong Yankuang International Coking Co. Meanwhile, its major project, Moatize, in Mozambique, estimated to produce 14 million ton of metallurgic and energetic coal for 70 years is in economical feasibility study. With AMCI acquisition, Vale added to its coal portfolio the underground coal deposit in Belvedere, Queensland State, Australia, with estimated resources of 2,7 billion of ton.

Potash^[46]: Vale produces potash at The Taquari-Vassouras Operational Unit, an underground mine with a treatment plant on the surface. “Taquari-Vassouras” is the name of the ore deposit. This unit is the single manufacturer of potassium chloride (KCl) in activity in Brazil. Potassium Chloride is an important component for the manufacture of fertilizers, and it is obtained through the underground mine of sylvite and later on improved by the flotation process. Presently all production is for domestic market and assure 13% of the Brazilian demand for the product. Since 1992 production comprised 24.7 million tonnes of ROM with an average grade of 31.80 percent KCl, containing a total of 7.8 million tonnes of KCl.

Kaolin: a fine White aluminium silicate used as a coating agent, filler, extender and absorbent in the paper, ceramics and pharmaceutical industries. Despite being abundantly found in nature, its commercial reserves are restricted to Brazil, United Kingdom and the US. At 2006, Vale shipped 1.323 million tons, a volume 8.6% higher than that sold in 2005.

Aluminium[link]

Vale is involved in all stages of aluminium production, from bauxite mining and alumina refining to primary aluminium production. However, the company's main strategy focuses on mining and alumina refining.

Vale has large, undeveloped bauxite reserves and is working toward expansions in alumina refining. For primary aluminium production the company works to develop projects in nations with lower energy costs.

Alumina is the main raw material for aluminium production and it is obtained from the refining of bauxite, an ore abundant in the state of Pará where the company has operations.

Logistics[link]

Railroads[link]

From 2000 to 2006 Vale invested more than $1.3 billion on the acquisition of over 361 locomotives and around 14,090 freight cars, those locomotives were primarily for iron ore transportation, but some were for regular cargo.^{[16][47][48][49][50][51]} Some of the locomotives purchased were secondhand for refurbishment but at least 55 of the locomotives acquired were new ones of the model EMD SD70M, each one costing about $2 million.^[52][53]

After those investments, Vale became the owner of over 800 locomotives and more than 35,000 freight cars ^[54] but the company informed that it will reduce its investment in rolling stock in the coming years.^[47]

Vale owns the concession of three Brazilian railways: Vitória a Minas railroad (EFVM), Ferrovia Centro Atlântica (FCA) and Carajás railroad (EFC).

Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica and Vitória a Minas railroads

• Vitória a Minas railroad - Vale operates under a 30 year contract this 905 km railroad, which is used to transport iron from the Iron Quadrangle in Minas Gerais to the Port of Tubarão in the state of Espírito Santo . The concession expires in 2027. This railroad also carried 1.1 million passengers in 2006.
• Carajás railroad - The concession of this 892 km railroad also expires in 2027, it links Carajás iron ore mines in the state of Pará to Ponta Madeira port terminal in the state of Maranhão. Vale plans to operate a train of 3.2 km and 340 cars on this railroad.
• Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica - Vale controls this railroad through the subsidiary FCA. As it is shown on the Vale's operations map above, this 7,000 km railroad extends through 6 brazilian states, this railroad originally belonged to the RFFSA. Vale's concession of this railroad expires in 2026.
• Vale also has a stake in railway operators in Mozambique and Malawi.^[55]

Ports and container terminals[link]

• Port of Tubarão - Vale owns and operates this port located in Vitória in the state of Espirito Santo.^[56] It's the largest iron ore embarking port in the world.^[57] Around 80 million metric tons of iron ore are shipped through the this port,^[44] this means that roughly 30% of Vale's iron ore production are shipped through the Tubarão Port.

• Ponta Madeira port terminal - Located in the state of Maranhão, it ships around 70 million metric tons mostly of iron ore, but also of manganese and copper for the company.

• Port of Sepetiba - Vale operates two maritime terminals in the Port of Sepetiba area located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, together they ship around 60 million metric tons of iron ore.

Vale also operates port terminals in the state of Sergipe and two others in the state of Espirito Santo.

Ships[link]

Vale has also entered the shipping business by ordering seven Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOC) from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea to transport iron ore between South America and Asia. These 362-metre (1,188 ft), 400,000 DWT ships are the longest and largest dry bulk carriers in the world. The first ship, Vale Brasil, was delivered in March 2011.^[58]

Energy[link]

Vale's energy business is focused at power production to fulfill the needs of its mining operations, as well as supplying the general Brazilian power grid. In 2005 it consumed 16.9 TWh of electrical power, accounting for 4.4% of Brazil's total consumption in that year.

Vale has participation in 8 hydroelectric plants, with 7 of these located in the state of Minas Gerais. Vale's investment in hydroelectric power plants totals $880 million.^[59] The company also plans to build a 600 MW thermoeletric power plant in the state of Pará.^[60]

Vale also operates hydroeletric plants in Canada and two others in Indonesia. The company is building a third hydroeletric plant on the Larona River, Indonesia.^[16]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The company's home page in Portuguese
• The company's home page in English
• Rheebu Nuu - indigenous group attempting to halt CVRD's mining projects in the South Pacific

Companies portal

v t e Major mining companies Aluminum Corporation of China Anglo American AngloGold Ashanti Anglo Platinum Antofagasta Barrick Gold BHP Billiton Codelco Freeport-McMoRan Glencore International Goldcorp Impala Platinum The Mosaic Company Newcrest Mining Newmont Mining Norilsk Nickel Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Rio Tinto Shenhua Southern Copper Vale Xstrata Mining companies

v t e Ibovespa companies of Brazil AES Eletropaulo ALL AmBev B2W Banco do Brasil BM&F Bovespa Bradesco Bradespar Braskem BRF BR Malls Brookfield Incorporações CCR CEMIG CESP Cia. Hering Cielo Copel Cosan CPFL Energia CSN CTEEP Cyrela Brazil Realty DASA Duratex Eletrobras Embraer Fibria Gafisa Gerdau Gol Grupo Pão de Açúcar Hypermarcas Itaú Unibanco Itaúsa JBS Klabin LLX Light Localiza Lojas Americanas Lojas Renner Marfrig Metalurgica Gerdau MMX Mineração MRV Natura Net OGX Oi PDG Petrobras Redecard Rossi Sabesp Santander Brasil Souza Cruz TAM Telefônica ǀ Vivo TIM Brasil Ultrapar Usiminas Vale Vanguarda Agro

In geography, a vale is a wide river valley, usually with a particularly wide flood plain or flat valley bottom. Vales commonly occur between the escarpment slopes of pairs of chalk downs, where the chalk dome has been eroded, exposing less resistant underlying rock, usually clay.

Places[link]

• Vale of Kashmir, a disputed territory, claimed by both Pakistan and India

Georgia[link]

• Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region

Norway[link]

• Våle, a historic municipality

Pakistan[link]

• Vale of Peshawar

Portugal[link]

• A civil parish in the municipality of Alfândega de Fé

Romania[link]

• Vale, a village in Aluniş Commune, Cluj County
• Vale, a village in Topliţa city, Harghita County
• Vale (Hungarian: Vále), a village in Sălişte town, Sibiu County

United Kingdom[link]

• Vale, Guernsey, parish in Guernsey
• Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, England
• Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, Wales
• Vale of Glamorgan, Glamorgan, Wales
• Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England
• Vale Royal, Cheshire, North West England (former)
• Blackmore Vale, Dorset, England
• Castle Vale, Birmingham, England
• Maida Vale, London, England
• Trent Vale, Staffordshire, England
• Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire, England
• Vale of Evesham, Worcestershire, England
• Vale of Leven, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland
• Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire, England
• Vale of York, Yorkshire, England
• Vale of Pickering, Yorkshire, England
• The Vale, Birmingham, England
• Vale of Mowbury, Yorkshire, England

United States of America[link]

• Ballardvale, Massachusetts
• Brook Vale, Virginia
• Cedar Vale, Kansas
• Cherryvale, Kansas
• Intervale, New Hampshire
• Kenton Vale, Kentucky
• La Vale, Maryland
• Marysvale, Utah
• Meadow Vale, Kentucky
• Millvale, Pennsylvania
• Montvale, New Jersey
• Northvale, New Jersey
• Orangevale, California
• Pleasant Vale Township, Illinois
• River Vale, New Jersey
• Rivervale, Indiana
• Sunnyvale, California
• Swissvale, Pennsylvania
• Union Vale, New York
• Vale, North Carolina (Avery County)
• Vale, North Carolina (Lincoln County)
• Vale, Oregon
• Vale, South Dakota
• Vale, West Virginia
• Vale Summit, Maryland
• Vale Township, Butte County, South Dakota
• Vale Tunnel, Raytown, Missouri

People[link]

• Angélica Vale, Mexican actress, singer and comedienne
• Brenda and Robert Vale, architects and researchers in the field of sustainable housing
• Bruno Vale, Portuguese footballer
• Danna Sue Vale, Australian politician
• Jack Vale, American comedian
• Jerry Vale, American singer
• John Vale, American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
• Vale Pepelo, a character in a New Zealand television animated series bro'Town
• Wylie Vale (1941–2012), American neurochemist
• Rebekah Francis Vale, moved from England to America

Other uses[link]

• Rose Vale, a tone of the color Rose
• Vale gas field, North Sea gas field
• Vale Special, British sports car
• Taff Vale Railway, Welsh railway
• HNoMS Vale, warships of the Royal Norwegian Navy
• Vale languages, or "Ruto-Vale", an African language
• McLaren Vale, wine region in South Australia
• Vale (mining company), Brazilian mining company
• Vicki Vale, comic book character
• Port Vale F.C., an English football team
• Vale, a Latin word meaning farewell or goodbye
• Vale of Siddim (biblical)
• Vale Limited, a mining company in Ontario, Canada.
• Vale, The Home Town for the protagonists in the Nintendo Game Series Golden Sun

See also[link]

• Valley
• Landform
• Vail, Colorado

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2010)

A company is a business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be made to exist in law and then a company is itself considered a "legal person". The name company arose because, at least originally, it represented or was owned by more than one real or legal person.

In the United States, a company may be a "corporation, partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust, fund, or organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not, and (in an official capacity) any receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or similar official, or liquidating agent, for any of the foregoing."^[1] In the US, a company is not necessarily a corporation.^[2]

In English law and in the Commonwealth realms a company is a body corporate or corporation company registered under the Companies Acts or similar legislation.^[3] It does not include a partnership or any other unincorporated group of persons, although such an entity may be loosely described as a company.

Meaning and definition[link]

A company can be defined as an "artificial person", invisible, intangible, created by or under Law, with a discrete legal entity, perpetual succession and a common seal. It is not affected by the death, insanity or insolvency of an individual member.

The English word has its origins in the Old French military term compaignie (first recorded in 1150), meaning a "body of soldiers",^[4] originally taken from the Late Latin word companio "companion, one who eats bread with you", first attested in the Lex Salica as a calque of the Germanic expression *gahlaibo (literally, "with bread"), related to Old High German galeipo "companion" and Gothic gahlaiba "messmate". By 1303, the word referred to trade guilds. Usage of company to mean "business association" was first recorded in 1553 and the abbreviation "co." dates from 1769.

History[link]

According to one source, "it may be formed by Act of Parliament, by Royal Charter, or by registration under company law (referred to as a limited liability or joint-stock company)."^[5] In the United Kingdom, the main regulating laws are the Companies Act 1985 and the Companies Act 2006.^[5] Reportedly, "a company registered under this Act has limited liability: its owners (the shareholders) have no financial liability in the event of winding up the affairs of the company, but they might lose the money already invested in it".^[5] In the USA, companies are registered in a particular state—Delaware being especially favoured—and become Incorporated (Inc).^[5]

In North America, two of the earliest companies were The London Company (also called the Charter of the Virginia Company of London)—an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America—and Plymouth Company that was granted an identical charter as part of the Virginia Company. The London Company was responsible for establishing the Jamestown Settlement, the first permanent English settlement in the present United States in 1607, and in the process of sending additional supplies, inadvertently settled the Somers Isles, alias Bermuda, the oldest-remaining English colony, in 1609.

Types[link]

For a country-by-country listing, see Types of business entity.

There are various types of company that can be formed in different jurisdictions, but the most common forms of company (generally formed by registration under applicable companies legislation) are:

• A company limited by guarantee. Commonly used where companies are formed for non-commercial purposes, such as clubs or charities. The members guarantee the payment of certain (usually nominal) amounts if the company goes into insolvent liquidation, but otherwise they have no economic rights in relation to the company. This type of company is common in England. A company limited by guarantee may be with or without having share capital.
• A company limited by shares. The most common form of company used for business ventures. Specifically, a limited company is a "company in which the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount individually invested" with corporations being "the most common example of a limited company. This can be a public company or private company."^[1] This type of company is common in England.
• A company limited by guarantee with a share capital. A hybrid entity, usually used where the company is formed for non-commercial purposes, but the activities of the company are partly funded by investors who expect a return. This type of company may no longer be formed in the UK, although provisions still exist in law for them to exist.^[6]
• A limited-liability company. "A company—statutorily authorized in certain states—that is characterized by limited liability, management by members or managers, and limitations on ownership transfer", i.e., L.L.C.^[1]
• An unlimited company with or without a share capital. A hybrid entity, a company where the liability of members or shareholders for the debts (if any) of the company are not limited. In this case doctrine of veil of incorporation does not apply.

Less commonly seen types of companies are:

• Companies formed by letters patent. Most corporations by letters patent are corporations sole and not companies as the term is commonly understood today.
• Charter corporations. Before the passing of modern companies legislation, these were the only types of companies. Now they are relatively rare, except for very old companies that still survive (of which there are still many, particularly many British banks), or modern societies that fulfil a quasi regulatory function (for example, the Bank of England is a corporation formed by a modern charter).
• Statutory Companies. Relatively rare today, certain companies have been formed by a private statute passed in the relevant jurisdiction.

Note that "Ltd after the company's name signifies limited company, and PLC (public limited company) indicates that its shares are widely held."^[5]

In legal parlance, the owners of a company are normally referred to as the "members". In a company limited or unlimited by shares (formed or incorporated with a share capital), this will be the shareholders. In a company limited by guarantee, this will be the guarantors. Some offshore jurisdictions have created special forms of offshore company in a bid to attract business for their jurisdictions. Examples include "segregated portfolio companies" and restricted purpose companies.

There are however, many, many sub-categories of types of company that can be formed in various jurisdictions in the world.

Companies are also sometimes distinguished for legal and regulatory purposes between public companies and private companies. Public companies are companies whose shares can be publicly traded, often (although not always) on a regulated stock exchange. Private companies do not have publicly traded shares, and often contain restrictions on transfers of shares. In some jurisdictions, private companies have maximum numbers of shareholders.

See also[link]

	Business and economics portal
	Companies portal

• Corporate personhood

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Black's Law and lee Dictionary. Second Pocket Edition. Bryan A. Garner, editor. West. 2001.
2. ^ http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/company
3. ^ Companies Act 2006, Section 1
4. ^ Harper, Douglas. "company". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=company. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Company." Crystal Reference Encyclopedia. Crystal Reference Systems Limited. 27 Nov. 2007. Reference.com
6. ^ Companies Act 2006

Further reading[link]

Look up company in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Dignam, A and Lowry, J (2006) Company Law, Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-928936-3.
• John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, The Company: a Short History of a Revolutionary Idea (New York: Modern Library, 2003)