Buy a Company from India: How Indian Citizens Can Own a European Company

If you are in India and want to buy a company in Germany, you can. Indian citizens and Indian companies are free to own a German GmbH or another European entity, and the cleanest, fastest way to do it is to buy a ready-made shelf company and have it transferred to you without leaving the country. Müller Konsult guides Indian founders through the German and DACH side of that purchase, from selecting a clean company to banking, VAT and tax. This is general information, not tax or legal advice; we handle the European side and recommend confirming Indian-side matters with your bank and chartered accountant.

To be clear from the start, this is not a marketplace of operating businesses for sale, and it is not the slow route of forming a company from scratch. A shelf company is a brand-new, never-traded German entity that already sits in the commercial register, sold precisely because it is clean and ready to use.

Can an Indian citizen buy a company in Germany?

Yes. There is no nationality requirement to own a German GmbH, and there is no rule that the owner must live in Germany or hold an EU passport. An Indian citizen, an NRI, or an Indian company can hold all the shares in a German company while remaining resident in India.

Owning a company and living in Germany are two separate things. You can be the full owner and director from India; you only need a residence permit if you intend to move to Germany and run the business there in person. We cover that distinction in the visa section below.

Why Indian founders buy a European company

India and Germany are close trading partners, and a growing number of Indian businesses want a base inside the European Union rather than trading into it from outside. A European company gives you:

• Single-market access to sell goods and services across the EU without the friction non-EU sellers face.
• An EU base for e-commerce, including EU VAT handling for marketplaces and direct sales.
• A holding or trading vehicle that sits closer to your European customers and suppliers.
• Credibility with EU clients, banks and partners who prefer to deal with a local counterparty.

For IT services, manufacturing, trading and online businesses in particular, an EU entity often turns a difficult export relationship into a straightforward domestic one.

What you are buying: a clean shelf company

The company we transfer to you is a Vorratsgesellschaft, a shelf company. It was incorporated, had its share capital paid in, and was entered in the German commercial register (Handelsregister), but it has never traded. It carries no debts, no contracts and no history. Under the German Limited Liability Companies Act, a GmbH only exists in law once it is entered in the register (GmbHG §11), and a shelf company has already crossed that line, so you skip the weeks a new company spends waiting to come into being.

That makes it different from two things people often confuse it with. It is not an operating business for sale, where you would inherit staff, customers and the seller’s history. And it is not a fresh incorporation, where you wait out the registration. It is a clean, registered entity ready to take a new owner today. For the full picture of the standard German entity, see our guide to a GmbH for sale.

Sending money from India: RBI, LRS and ODI

This is the part most guides skip, and it matters most to Indian buyers. Moving money out of India to buy a foreign company is regulated under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), and the route depends on whether the buyer is an individual or a company.

• If you buy as an individual, you can remit funds under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). The RBI allows each resident individual to remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year (April to March) for permissible current and capital account transactions, which includes overseas investment, subject to the Overseas Investment Rules and Regulations, 2022.
• If you buy through an Indian company, the purchase typically falls under the Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) framework rather than LRS, again under the 2022 rules.

In both cases the money moves through your authorised dealer bank in India, which handles the reporting. The practical takeaway is that buying a European company from India is a recognised, lawful capital transfer, not a grey area, provided you stay within the limits and route it correctly. Because the figures and your specific position depend on your status and existing remittances, confirm the route with your bank and chartered accountant before you transfer. We coordinate the timing on the German side so the steps line up.

The purchase process from India, step by step

The whole acquisition can be completed remotely. A typical timeline looks like this:

1. Consultation and selection. We discuss your goals and propose a clean company, a German GmbH or a DACH alternative.
2. Document pack. You assemble your identification and, where Indian public documents are needed in Germany, have them apostilled.
3. Due diligence. We verify the company is debt-free, litigation-free and current on tax, so you know exactly what you are taking over.
4. Plan the money route. You arrange the remittance from India under LRS or ODI through your authorised dealer bank, in parallel with the German paperwork.
5. Notarised share transfer. Ownership passes by notarial act under GmbHG §15, completed by power of attorney so you do not need to travel.
6. Handover. We update the register, appoint your managing director, and set up banking, VAT and tax so the company is ready to operate.

Document legalisation and the notary

German law does not allow a GmbH to change hands by private contract. The transfer of the shares, and even the agreement to transfer them, must be recorded in notarial form (GmbHG §15). For a buyer in India, this is handled through a power of attorney so a representative can attend the notary on your behalf. India is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so Indian public documents used in Germany are legalised by apostille through the designated Indian authorities rather than by full consular legalisation, which keeps the paperwork straightforward.

Register and beneficial-owner update

After the transfer, an updated list of shareholders (Gesellschafterliste) is filed with the commercial register, and the new beneficial owners are reported to the transparency register (Transparenzregister). These filings are what secure your ownership on the public record, and we handle both for you.

What you need to provide (KYC and the India side)

German anti-money-laundering rules apply to every company purchase, so we will ask you to identify the ultimate beneficial owners, provide details of the incoming director and shareholders, confirm the business purpose, and supply proof of address. If the buyer is an Indian company, we also need the corporate documents and ownership chain, apostilled where required. On the India side, you and your bank handle the source-of-funds and remittance reporting that LRS or ODI requires. We make sure the German file is complete before the notary appointment so nothing stalls.

Share capital and legal basics

The numbers behind a German GmbH come straight from the GmbHG, and they are worth knowing before you buy:

• Minimum share capital is €25,000 (GmbHG §5).
• Before registration, at least one quarter of each share and a total of at least €12,500 must be paid in (GmbHG §7). In a shelf company this is already done.
• The company exists only once it is in the commercial register (GmbHG §11) — already complete for a shelf company.
• Liability is limited: the company’s assets alone discharge its obligations, protecting your personal assets (GmbHG §13).
• A managing director is required — every GmbH must have at least one Geschäftsführer (GmbHG §6), a role you can hold yourself from India.

Because the capital is already paid in and verified in a ready-made company, you are not arranging a fresh deposit during the purchase; you are buying an entity whose capital is in place.

Banking, VAT and tax number for Indian owners

A company can only trade once it can move money and invoice, and for owners in India these registrations are often the slowest part of getting started. A ready-made GmbH can solve all three:

• Bank account. Opening a German business account from abroad takes preparation, so many Indian buyers choose a shelf company with a bank account already in place. A nominee or local director can help meet the bank’s requirements, and we also help you open a German business bank account.
• VAT number. A company with a VAT number lets you invoice and trade across the EU immediately, instead of waiting for a fresh registration.
• Tax number. Where the company already holds a tax number, you avoid the wait a brand-new company faces. We confirm the registrations carry over correctly to you.

Tax: the India–Germany treaty and bringing profits home

A German GmbH pays German corporate taxes. In practice the combined rate, corporation tax plus the solidarity surcharge plus municipal trade tax, comes to roughly 30%, with VAT at 19% (a reduced 7% applies to some goods). Those are the company’s taxes, paid in Germany, regardless of where the owner lives.

The more important question for an Indian owner is whether the same income is taxed twice. India and Germany have a double-taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) designed to prevent exactly that, and it also governs questions such as whether your activity creates a permanent establishment. Profits can be distributed as dividends and repatriated to India, subject to German tax on the distribution and to Indian foreign-exchange rules. The exact treatment depends on your personal and corporate position, so treat this as background and confirm the figures with a cross-border tax adviser. This is general information, not tax advice.

Planning a European company from India? Request a free callback with our lawyers, with no commitment. Talk to our team.

Do you need a visa or to move to Germany?

Owning a German company does not require a visa. You can hold the shares and even act as director from India. A residence permit only comes into play if you want to live in Germany and run the business there in person.

If relocation is the goal, two routes are common for Indian nationals. The self-employment residence permit under §21 of the Residence Act lets an entrepreneur live in Germany to run their own business, subject to an economic-interest and financing assessment. Alternatively, an owner who takes a genuine salaried managing-director role can qualify for the EU Blue Card if the salary meets the threshold, which for 2026 is €50,700 gross a year, or €45,934.20 for shortage occupations and recent graduates. Our guide to the business visa through company ownership explains how the routes fit together. Whether you stay in India or relocate, the company purchase itself works the same way.

Germany, Austria or Switzerland: which to buy?

A German GmbH is the default choice for EU market access, but it is not the only one. The right jurisdiction depends on your tax goals, where your customers are, and whether you need EU membership.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein sit outside the EU, so they suit holding and finance more than single-market trade. If you want the lowest entry capital with EU access, see buy a GmbH in Austria; for a Swiss option, see buy a shelf company in Switzerland. For most Indian founders selling into Europe, a German GmbH remains the practical pick.

What it costs and what’s included

Many providers either hide their prices or quote a single “from” figure. We prefer to show the logic. It helps to see the price as two parts: what is built into every purchase, and the optional extras you choose.

A key point: the share capital is not a fee. It belongs to the company and works in its business once you own it, so a large part of any honest price is simply your own capital. For a full breakdown of the cost drivers, see our shelf company cost guide, and contact us for a transparent quote.

Ongoing compliance and our support

Buying the company is the start, not the finish. A German GmbH carries real ongoing obligations that most sellers never mention, and we stay with you for them: bookkeeping and accounting to German standards, annual financial statements and their filing, corporate income tax, trade tax and VAT returns, and keeping the register and beneficial-owner entries current when anything changes. For an owner managing the company from India, having a local team handle these filings is what keeps the entity in good standing year after year.

Why buy through Müller Konsult

There is no shortage of websites selling German companies, but a GmbH is a real legal entity carrying real obligations, so who you buy it from matters. Our work is led by a corporate lawyer, grounded in the GmbHG sections cited throughout this page rather than marketing claims. Every company is verified clean before transfer, our pricing is transparent rather than a vague “from” figure, and we handle the cross-border paperwork that an Indian buyer needs, including remote completion by power of attorney and coordination with your remittance on the India side. You deal with a named, accountable adviser with a real office in Düsseldorf, not an anonymous form. If you would rather start from scratch, we also handle company formation in Germany, and our guide on how to buy a company in Germany as a foreigner walks through the steps in more detail.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• German Limited Liability Companies Act (GmbHG), official English text — gesetze-im-internet.de
• Reserve Bank of India, Liberalised Remittance Scheme and Overseas Investment Rules — rbi.org.in
• German Commercial Register (Handelsregister) — handelsregister.de

Ready to buy a European company from India?

Contact Müller Konsult for a clean, ready-made German or DACH company, completed remotely. We assess your goals, propose the right entity, and guide you through every step on the European side. Müller Konsult · Königsallee 27, 40212 Düsseldorf · +49 211 5403 8800 · info@gmbhforsale.com · Request a callback

Reviewed by Stefan Stelthove, Corporate & Commercial Lawyer, Müller Konsult. Last updated 7 June 2026. This is general information, not tax, legal or immigration advice.

Related: GmbH for sale · How to buy a company in Germany as a foreigner · Shelf company Germany · Business visa through company ownership · Company formation in Germany