INTERNATIONAL GROWTH OF COMPANIES

Planning international expansion of your business?

Seeing opportunities for international growth but don’t know where to start? Should you establish a company abroad, and – if so – where and what type of a company?

Looking for a place to open a factory or a branch office? Or planning to create an international sales team or acquire an existing one?

Expanding your business on an international scale opens unlimited possibilities while being a major challenge in terms of logistics. The whole process must be planned and handled both here, in Poland, and in the country of destination, and expansion typically involves multiple destinations simultaneously. It is good to have the assistance of a trusted and competent advisor who will help you along the way and will be your management centre for legal and tax relations, and sometimes business relations as well, regardless of the jurisdiction of your choice.

Where to start with expanding your business?

Choose the target location taking into account its tax laws and entrepreneur-friendliness. In the time of COVID pandemic, foreign businesses are welcome to all European countries, especially if they offer innovative technologies or services.

Many aspects should be investigated and planned in advance, i.e. before taking any actions. This will help you act swiftly afterwards. Should this stage be omitted, fixing things and eliminating certain risks may prove to be a lengthy and costly process.

Take time to decide which business function would be located in Poland, to make sure that the division of functions in the structure is transparent and clear for tax authorities in both countries (for instance, designer/developer team in Poland, sales team in Germany) etc. Division of functions should also be followed by division of assets and the share of business risks to be incurred by each of the businesses.

Our services

• Preparing expansion strategies in terms of law and taxes, internationally.
• Establishing companies and structures worldwide.
• Setting up accounting, tax and legal supervision processes, negotiating and streamlining costs of foreign administration.
• Helping set up bank accounts and negotiate the costs of financial administration.
• Helping in obtaining funds and in M&A processes in countries of destination.
• Supervising the Polish entities’ responsibilities in connection with international expansion (declarations/settlements for foreign currencies, taxes etc.).

Choosing partners for business relocation/expansion

You should analyse the labour costs in each country and costs of legal consultancy services. Operating in an international environment has been our key area of expertise and focus for more than 20 years – owing to this, we can have many solutions handled by our Polish team (saving your time and costs), consulting lawyers in countries of destination in strategic and project-relevant moments, as well as at the final stage of designing the target structure. We co-operate with established partners in Europe and worldwide.

Things to remember when opening a business abroad

In addition to business risks and proper arrangements with your business partners, you need to take care of legal, tax, and legislation risks.

It is good to know that many countries have tax regulations very friendly towards companies utilising innovative technologies. An effectively one-digit tax rate is possible both in Poland and abroad.

Some countries may offer more liberal accounting principles making life easier and helping focus on your business.

You must also remember tax and legal liabilities (including those concerning foreign currencies) in Poland. For instance, you must file a declaration of assets held outside the territory of Poland. This obligation applies to both companies, entrepreneurs, as well as private individuals who should report, among other things, their shares held in foreign companies. It is important to do everything properly and have a peace of mind necessary to expand your business.

It is also very important to remember that every country follows the “substance” approach. Establishing a company is not enough. Such a company must actually operate. Naturally, not everything will start working properly straight away. We help our clients take their first steps efficiently and safely.

Negotiating with business partners

We negotiate the costs of starting and rolling out international projects on behalf of our clients. Knowing the principles of professional service, we are aware of the factors to be taken into consideration.

Having been a part of the life of international businesses for two decades, we help our clients in vital business negotiations, M&A transactions, establishing and negotiating relations with accounting, legal, or tax consultancy partners.

Project examples:

SERVICES ON TWO CONTINENTS

We have devised an international sales and promotion structure for services provided for a global recipient (Europe, Asia, Americas). Ultimately, the sales company is to be incorporated in the state of New York, while the shared services centre (technical support for sales) will remain based in Poland. We have provided the client with full tax and corporate planning and with support in the most difficult decisions which had to be made during the pandemic.

EXPANSION OF A POLISH TECHNOLOGICAL COMPANY IN EUROPE

We have prepared a development strategy for a business creating industrial control systems. The project involves relocation of their factory and building sales teams in Europe. Building the strategy, we have precisely allocated each function to specific units within the group, taking advantage of the tax credits for technology development available in most European countries.

DEVELOPMENT BY ACQUISITION

For our client, we have prepared a UK-based company as well as corporate and financial strategies for acquisition of sales teams. The project was aimed at accelerating organic growth of a Polish-German company providing B2B IT services – a software house.