1 Groups and consolidation: an overview

 
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1
Groups and consolidation: an overview 
Consolidation means presenting the results, assets and liabilities of a group of companies as if they were 
one company
.
You will probably know that many large companies actually consist of several companies controlled by 
one central or administrative company. Together, these companies are called a 
group
. 
1.1 How does a group arise? 
The central company, called a 
parent
, generally owns most or all of the shares in the other companies, 
which are called 
subsidiaries
. 
The parent company usually 
controls
the subsidiary by 
owning most of the shares in that company
, but 
share ownership is not always the same as control, which can arise in other ways. 
Businesses may operate as a group for all sorts of practical reasons. If you were going out for a pizza, you 
might go to Pizza Hut; if you wanted some fried chicken you might go to KFC. Both sound more 
appetising than 'Yum! Brands Inc', the parent company of these subsidiaries. 
However, from the legal point of view, the 
results of a group must be presented as a whole
. In other 
words, they need to be 
consolidated
. Consolidation will be defined more formally later in the chapter. 
Basically, it means 
presenting the results of a group of companies as if they were a single company
. 
1.2 What does consolidation involve? 
Before moving on to the formal definitions, think about what consolidation involves. 

Consolidation 
means 
adding together
. 

Consolidation 
means 
cancellation of like items
internal to the group. 

Consolidate as if you 
owned everything 
then