How to Track Swiss Companies That Just Raised Capital
A Swiss company files a capital increase with its cantonal commercial register. The change then appears in the SHAB (Schweizerisches Handelsamtsblatt), the official gazette for commercial-register publications. It records the change in registered capital and the effective date. Depending on the transaction, it may also show how the new shares were paid for. The filing does not reveal an operating budget or spending plan.
For a seller, the filing is a prompt to investigate an account while the change is recent. This guide shows how to interpret the notice and decide whether the account belongs in today's call list.
A capital increase notice, annotated
Most capital-increase notices contain the same core fields. The gazette is published online at shab.ch each business day, and each notice sits under a cantonal section. A capital increase typically appears under Mutations (changes to existing entries).
- Company name and legal form: for example, "Beispiel Technologie AG". The legal form distinguishes an AG from a GmbH/Sàrl and other entities.
- CHE number: this is the unique company identifier in the Swiss commercial register (e.g. CHE-123.456.789). You can look it up on zefix.admin.ch to find the full registration, including the company's address, purpose clause, and list of authorized signatories.
- Registered office: the municipality and canton. Use the municipality and canton to apply your territory rules and distinguish companies with similar names.
- Old and new share capital: Aktienkapital / capital-actions / capitale azionario. The notice states the previous share capital and the new total. The difference is the increase in nominal registered capital. The total consideration may be higher when a share premium is paid. A contribution can also take the form of an asset or set-off.
- Number and type of shares: the notice lists the registered share count (Namenaktien / actions nominatives / azioni nominative) and par value. It also states whether they are fully paid up (liberiert / libéré / liberato).
- Changes in authorized signatories: a capital increase often comes with new board members or a new managing director. These names appear in the same notice.
The difference between the old and new capital figures is the change in nominal share capital. Check the transaction wording for a premium or contribution in kind. A set-off converts an existing claim into equity. Account for these terms before estimating how much cash entered the business.
- 1 Before: the previously registered share capital was CHF 100,000.
- 2 After: the new registered share capital is CHF 250,000. The nominal increase is CHF 150,000.
- 3 Paid up: CHF 250,000 of nominal share capital is recorded as paid up. Verify the company's current cash balance separately.
- 4 Shares issued: the company now has 2,500 registered shares with a nominal value of CHF 100 each. It maintains the shareholder register.
This line establishes a CHF 150,000 increase in nominal share capital and records the capital as fully paid up. Read the transaction wording before treating that amount as fresh cash.
You can verify and enrich the notice by checking the full register entry on Zefix, the federal company index. Together, the publication and register extract provide the company identifiers and purpose. They also show the recorded signing authorities needed for the first qualification pass.
Payment status (Liberierung / libération / liberazione)
Swiss law allows shares to be partially paid up. Full payment means the nominal amount due on the shares has been contributed. Partial payment means an amount remains due. Use this field to understand the share capital. Verify the company's current liquidity separately.
Signatory changes
Look for lines starting with "Eingetragene Personen" (personnes inscrites / persone iscritte) or entries listing new names with their signing authority: "Einzelunterschrift" (signature individuelle / firma individuale) for sole signature, "Kollektivunterschrift zu zweien" (signature collective à deux / firma collettiva a due) for joint signature. Compare new names with the company's site and professional profiles to identify their actual operating role.
What the filing tells you
A capital increase is a reason to review an account. On its own, it proves a change in the company's registered capital structure. The transaction wording may identify a cash contribution. It can also describe an asset contribution or the settlement of a claim.
The same publication may record changes to the board or signing authority. Treat each new name as a research lead. Confirm the person's current role and operating responsibility before adding them to the account plan. The register focuses on authorized signatories, while the appropriate contact may be a department head.
SHAB gives each publication a clear date, so every seller can work from the same official event. Reviewing new publications regularly helps you investigate changes while they are still recent. The publication is legally required and follows a standard register format. Company press releases about capital increases are uncommon. They are especially rare among mid-market firms.
What to verify before outreach
Check whether the filing coincides with an operational change. Open roles may indicate the function expanding. A purpose change or a new location calls for different research questions.
The signatory list gives you names to verify. A recorded signatory may be a board member or lawyer. The relevant purchase may belong to another function, even when the signatory is a senior executive. Use the company site and professional profiles to find the person responsible for the problem you solve.
From notice to call list
Start with your territory and target sectors. Then set a minimum nominal increase that reflects the account sizes your team can serve.
Once you have a short list, look up each company on zefix.admin.ch. The purpose clause tells you what the company does. Review the filing while it is recent, then spend a few minutes checking one corroborating source.
Put accounts with a relevant operational change at the top of the queue. Keep a bare capital filing in research until there is a credible reason for your buyer to speak with you.
"I noticed you have opened several engineering roles since the recent register change. Are you expanding the product team this quarter?"
The capital filing guides research. The verified operational change gives the prospect a natural reason for the conversation.
Manual monitoring and Prospex
Manual review works for a narrow territory. Search the new SHAB publications and record the CHE number and nominal increase. Open the company in Zefix when it matches your account criteria.
Consistency becomes harder as the territory grows. Applying the same criteria to every filing and joining it to the right company record is difficult to sustain by hand.
Prospex collects capital-increase publications from all 26 cantons and links each result to its SHAB source. A saved view can narrow the list by territory and sector. Each company also includes the Zefix details used in the first qualification pass.
Open the view each morning, review the nominal increase and transaction wording, then check related company signals before assigning the account. A leadership change or active hiring can give the capital filing useful context.
Further reading
- SHAB (Schweizerisches Handelsamtsblatt) publishes the official gazette online daily. Use it to find the original publication text and date for any commercial-register mutation.
- Zefix is the federal company index, maintained by the Federal Office of Justice. Search by name or CHE number to retrieve the current register entry and signing authorities. A keyword search can help when those details are unknown.
- The cantonal commercial registers (e.g. hr.zh.ch for Zurich) hold the full extracts, including articles of association and historical mutations. Use them to verify the company purpose and the complete signatory list.
- Swiss Code of Obligations, Art. 650 ff. covers the legal framework for capital increases in Swiss corporations.