Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
holding company \holding company\ n. (Finance) A company that controls other independently incorporated companies by ownership of most or all of their stock, but does not directly control the daily operations of those companies.
Wiktionary
n. (context business English) A company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies as opposed to producing goods and services.
WordNet
n. a company with controlling shares in other companies
Wikipedia
A holding company is a company that owns other companies' outstanding stock. The term usually refers to a company that does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies to form a corporate group. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow the ownership and control of a number of different companies.
In the United States, 80% or more of stock, in voting and value, must be owned before tax consolidation benefits such as tax-free dividends can be claimed. That is, if Company A owns 80% or more of the stock of Company B, Company A will not pay taxes on dividends paid by Company B to its stockholders, as the payment of dividends from B to A is essentially Company A transferring cash from one company to the other. Any other shareholders of Company B will pay the usual taxes on dividends, as they are legitimate and ordinary dividends to these shareholders.
Sometimes a company intended to be a pure holding company identifies itself as such by adding "Holding" or "Holdings" to its name.
Usage examples of "holding company".
Ah, but a cross-reference in the text indicated the conservancy's involvement with a twentieth-century holding company for Dr.
She had secured it from the Co-ordination Department of the Blord Holding Company, a fact of which the Co-ordination Department was unaware.
Eventually, he moved to France to be with his audience and sold the place to a holding company, Fair Lady Properties.
Regulus was the holding company Ari technically worked for, and it was wholly owned by Jules Wallinchky.
He organised the Matterson Corporation as a holding company and really went to town on money-making, and he wasn't particular how he made it -- he still isn't, for that matter.
International Liberty Fund, Sophia Aiello Foundation, Friends of Freedom, something called the Maritime Enterprises Holding Company, half a dozen individual EuroUnion citizens plus two Caribbean accounts that might be hiding just about anyone - did you have a good weekend and forget to tell me?