Searching the Companies Register

What you can search for

By typing a term into the search box in the Companies Register, you can search directly for:

• companies on the register — this includes:
  • current companies
  • companies incorporated in other countries and registered to do business in New Zealand
  • companies that have been removed or are in receivership
• the previous names of those companies — although you cannot do a specific search for these
• directors of companies — including banned directors and prohibited managers
• shareholders of companies

Advanced search

You can use the advanced search to find specific results for:

• types of companies, including unlimited companies, co-operative companies and companies on our Overseas Register
• companies incorporated between specific dates
• different types of company addresses — you can further refine the address search by adding a street name, city or postcode
• the status of a company, for example if it is in voluntary administration or receivership
• directors and shareholders, including the type of organisation they are associated with and their status.

Refining your results

You can sort your results alphabetically or by incorporation date.

You can also start an advanced search by searching the register using any search term. From the list of results, select 'Show advanced search' in the top right of the screen.

Using information in search results

You can save up to 1000 search results by:

• printing them out
• saving them as a PDF
• attaching them to an email as a PDF
• exporting them in a CSV file format to further analyse in spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel (or similar).

If your search returns more than 1000 results, try refining your search. If your search still returns over 1000 results you can send us a data request.

Searching for New Zealand companies

Each result shows the following basic company details:

• name
• number
• New Zealand Business Number (NZBN)
• status (see note below)
• registered office address, and 
• date of incorporation.

Select its name to view all the information we have for that company.

Other information held about New Zealand companies

Includes:

• current and previous addresses.
• the names, addresses and other information about the directors.
• the number of shares, the names of shareholders and how many shares they hold.
• all the company documents that have been registered with us, including directors' consents, annual returns or a constitution if the company has one.
• property secured against the company on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). For this option you will be prompted to log in and a search fee applies — $2 (plus GST). Learn more about searching the PPSR from the Companies Register

Searching for overseas companies

Companies incorporated in other countries and registered to do business in New Zealand are registered on the Overseas Register. This register is part of the New Zealand Companies Register and you can search for specific overseas companies using that search.

Use our 'Advanced search' option to find all the companies on the Overseas Register or to filter search results to show only overseas companies.

1. Select 'Advanced search'.
2. To search only for overseas companies, select the following options in the 'Entity type' drop-down menu:
   • • Overseas ASIC company — for all the Australian companies
     • Overseas non-ASIC company — for all companies incorporated in other countries
3. Select 'Search' to see the results.

Information about overseas companies

You can find the following information about an overseas company.

• the country where it is incorporated and the date of incorporation.
• who the directors are.
• where in New Zealand its principal place of business is.
• if its constitution contains any restrictions on its ability to trade.
• where documents can be served on the company in New Zealand and who can receive them.

Searching for directors

You can search for directors by name — using their surname and first name can help to refine the search.

Search results show:

• their full legal name
• their address
• the date they were appointed, and
• their status — whether they are current or ceased (that is, they are no longer a director).

Select the 'Director' link to:

• find their consent form agreeing to be a director
• see a record of all the directors for that company.

Disqualified directors

Information about disqualified directors includes:

• any other names they are known by
• their last known address
• the disqualification period
• the criteria under which they were disqualified (usually Sections 382(1) or 385 of the Companies Act 1993).

Searching for shareholders

Search for shareholders by individual or company name.

Search results show their:

• full name or the company name — depending on whether the shareholder is a person or an organisation
• address
• status — whether they are current or removed (that is, no longer a shareholder)
• the number or percentage of shares they hold.

Select the 'Shareholder' link to see a record of all the shareholdings for that company and how they are allocated.

Using other applications to search the Companies Register

We offer a mobile application that lets you search Australian and New Zealand companies at the same time.

We offer also offer a number of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Anyone who searches for large volumes of data on the Companies Register (or other Companies Office registers) could benefit from connecting directly to our data using an API.

Searching other Companies Office registers

In addition to the Companies Register, the Companies Office is responsible for administering a number of New Zealand's other statutory registers. 

• Using the option below, select the register you are interested in.
• Search using the options available.

Other guides in

Getting support to use the Companies Register

• Uploading documents to the Companies Register
• Filing documents with electronic signatures
• Forgotten your RealMe® username or password
• Searching the PPSR from the Companies Register
• Searching using other applications
• NZBN and the Companies Register
• Suppressing a residential address on the register

Other help topics