parent company

American  

noun

1. a corporation or other business enterprise that owns controlling interests in one or more subsidiary companies (holding company ).

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parent company British  

noun

1. a company that owns more than half the shares of another company

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Etymology

Origin of parent company

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

CBS News is expected to be under the same corporate ownership as CNN once parent company Paramount closes its $111-billion deal to acquire Warner Bros.

From Los Angeles Times

He pointed to the stocks of Atlanta Braves, Madison Square Garden Sports, Manchester United and Rogers Communications, the Canadian media firm that owns a majority stake in the parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors hockey and basketball teams.

From Barron's

In a 2016 speech in Beijing, Pablo Isla, chairman of Spanish retail giant Inditex, the parent company of Zara, declared that “China is the number one priority.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Parent company Meta said it paid out nearly $3bn to creators in 2025 through monetisation programmes.

From BBC

Videos verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, indicate that at least some of the launches came from Bahrain, the tiny kingdom just 125 miles across the Gulf from Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal