Set up two companies with the paperwork and sequencing handled clearly

Businesses often choose a two-company setup when they want to separate different activities, ownership groups, brands or risk profiles from the outset. For example, one company may be intended for a particular venture while the other is used for a separate line of business or a joint project. The legal and commercial reasons vary, and the right structure depends on what each entity will do, who will own it and how the companies are expected to interact. Tax and accounting consequences may need separate advice before final decisions are made.

The process usually starts with confirming the proposed structure for both entities, including names, directors, shareholders and share allocations. Once those details are settled, we prepare the incorporation paperwork, arrange registration steps and draft the standard constitutions and related setup documents for each company. Because this is a two-entity setup, sequencing matters. It is important to check whether the companies should mirror each other, have different ownership terms, or be formed in a particular order to match the intended structure and records.

We generally need the proposed company names, director details, shareholder details, registered office information and a clear explanation of how each company is intended to be used. We may also need to know whether the two companies will have the same owners, whether there are different shareholdings between them, and whether any existing company records or shareholder arrangements need to be taken into account. Completion steps can depend on the company records and any existing shareholder arrangements, so those details can affect timing and document preparation.

Timing depends on how quickly the required information is provided and whether any issues arise with the proposed names, ownership details or supporting records. Where the structure is straightforward and instructions are complete, the work can move relatively quickly, but regulator processing and third-party steps are outside Sprintlaw's control. A two-company setup can also take longer than a single registration if there are different shareholder arrangements or sequencing questions to resolve. We can outline the expected steps once we have the core details for both entities.

Possibly, but that can become more than a simple dual setup if the new entity needs to fit around existing records, ownership terms or commercial arrangements. In that situation, we would usually need to check how the existing company is structured, whether there are current shareholders or governance documents, and whether the second company is being added as part of a wider restructure. This service is best suited to the setup work described on this page, rather than a full restructure or ongoing management of the group after registration.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Dual Company Setup Legal Service service, pricing starts from $1,200.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.