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Running a company in Latvia is a great alternative to offshore companies as the Latvian government has made numerous changes to regulations and laws in recent years. Companies in Latvia attract foreign entrepreneurs and investors who are looking for a sustainable and developing corporate structure and have the opportunity to take advantage of various tax optimization options for their company.

While there is an option to start your own business, there is another alternative - you can buy an existing one. A company that was founded some time ago and is currently inactive is known as a shelf or ready-made company. Shelf companies are either "clean", which means that there has never been a business transaction in this company since it was founded, or a company with its own history, that is, it has an operational and financial history.

Benefits of Acquiring a Shelf Company
Clean businesses are usually set up for a single purpose only to be sold off over time. The key advantage of such a shelf company is that the new owner of the company can be absolutely certain that he has no debts or other liabilities from the previous owners. In the meantime, companies that have previously operated may have some liabilities and investors should do their own due diligence to ensure they are not buying a shelf company with high debt. However, even companies with an operational history have their own advantages. For example, a readymade company with a pre-existing business history is more credible and it is easier to take out a loan or even open a bank account. Some manufacturers, as well as governments, prefer to do business with a company that is known for its longevity.
Compared to a way to start your own business, the shelf company may be the right strategy for the following reasons:

Urgency - Starting a new business takes time and resources. If you want to start trading as soon as possible, a shelf company can get you started almost immediately after acquiring the shares.
Image and Credibility - Companies that have recently been registered often look unreliable to do business with. In the meantime, a shelf company registered some time ago contributes to a reliable image.
Meet formal requirements - in order to acquire certain business projects, a company has to be of a certain age in some cases.

Process of a shelf company acquisition
The process of acquiring a shelf company in Latvia is relatively straightforward and is usually carried out by the service provider from whom you wish to acquire a shelf company. The limited liability company is the most widespread legal form of the company in Latvia as its shareholders have no personal liability for the company's liabilities other than the capital invested. In general, shelf companies in Latvia are given an active registration number, VAT number, no previous activity and already registered share capital of EUR 2,800. The latter can vary with different service providers and you should clarify this before choosing your shelf company.

A Latvian shelf company can be acquired remotely either by arranging an appointment with a notary or by issuing a digitally signed power of attorney with an electronic signature. Basically, all documents are created by the service provider and only the passport copies of the shareholders, the residential address and the new company name (if desired) and the contacts on the customer side are required. When all documents are ready and signed by the service provider, he submits the application to the commercial register, where processing of all changes takes up to 5 working days. For an additional fee it is possible to accelerate the process to 1 working day. After the commercial register has finished processing the changes, the service provider forwards all legal documents to the new shareholders and your company can start operations.