Setting up a Holding Company in the RAK ICC
Are you looking to establish a holding company to push your business ventures further? The RAK ICC Free Zone is a compelling destination for offshore company setup in various structures in RAK or Ras Al Khaimah. We’ve long espoused the benefits of RAK company formation to gain a footing in the Dubai business community. We will show you a compelling case for joining our clients who have already chosen to make RAK ICC their home.
A brief overview of the RAK ICC
The Ras Al Khaimah International Corporate Centre (RAK ICC) Free Zone is in the northernmost of the seven Emirates in the UAE, Ras Al Khaimah, and is only an hour’s drive from DXB, or Dubai International Airport. The Free Zone offers you a choice of five formats for RAK offshore company setup, granting you a wealth of choice in structuring your entity. You also have a selection of six activity licence classes that fit a host of corporate activities. Plus, if you already have an existing company, you can transfer your domicile over to RAK ICC. That offers a strategic advantage compared to most Free Zones in Dubai or the rest of the UAE that do not grant domicile transfers. In practice, you’d have to liquidate your firm and start again, which may not be in your best interest. There are also unique structures, including the Premium Product.
Why pursue RAK holding company formation?
Among the choice of five international business company (IBC) structures for RAK ICC, company formation is a Segregated Portfolio Company (SPC). What does this mean? The SPC will separate all the assets and liabilities of different kinds of shares you have in your established entity from each other. Your share capital will be in one bucket, retained earnings in another, etc. The SPC is ideal for investing in real estate or creating a family office, as each shareholder will have their portfolio all within this single entity. RAK ICC’s SPCs allow for up to ten segregated portfolios. However, the one limitation of the SPC is that you cannot engage in financial service activities nor operate on the UAE Mainland.
Another reason you should consider RAK ICC is that there is a particular corporate structure that best suits intellectual property, an intellectual property holding company (IPHC). You can have a subsidiary of a global firm or a sister entity to protect all your intellectual property assets. Why is an IP holding company worth exploring? As we covered in our article that takes a deep dive into RAK ICC’s intellectual property company, you can separate all your intellectual property from your operations. Not only that, centralising all your IP assets in a single entity creates efficiency in your business.
The efficiencies are not only in centralising the assets. When dealing with disputes and any potential legal ramifications, you only litigate in one jurisdiction. In the case of RAK ICC, it grants you access to the Common Law DIFC Courts at the Dubai International Financial Centre and Dubai and ADGM in Ab Dhabi. Why is the use of Common Law critical? Common-Law is the foundation of jurisprudence in the United Kingdom and the United States, and the court proceedings are in English, whilst local courts are Code Law with proceedings all in Arabic.
How much does RAK Free Zone holding company setup cost?
Suppose you’re curious about how much money you must put into establishing your holding company at RAK ICC. In that case, we do have a cost comparison across some of our top Free Zones, but our recommendation is to speak to our expert team of RAK ICC Offshore Company Setup Advisors at Europe Emirates Group. We’ll assess you on the best structure that fits your needs and project the RAK ICC renewal fees to maintain your firm in good standing well into the future. Would you like to get started? Don’t hesitate to contact us today.
Written by
Adrian Oton
CEO, Europe Emirates Group