#Holding Animatrice: Active Holding Company Lawyer in France

Your situation and your risks

You hold your operating companies through a holding company and want it to play an active role in the group. A holding company is described as active (holding animatrice) when, in addition to managing its shareholdings, it actively conducts the group’s policy. This is neither a status nor an approval granted by the tax authorities. The classification depends on the facts and has tax consequences, particularly when the business is passed on. It forms part of the wider organisation of your corporate group.

The risk lies in the evidence. A holding company that merely manages its portfolio is managing its own securities holdings. Its shares then cannot directly benefit from the Dutreil pact, which is reserved to companies carrying on an operating activity. The active management must therefore be genuine, documented and maintained throughout the commitment periods.

The legal framework for a holding animatrice in France

Article 787 B of the French Tax Code (CGI) (in French), in the version in force since 21 February 2026, governs this concept. The text covers a company whose main activity, in addition to managing its shareholdings, is to take an active part in conducting its group’s policy. It is then treated as carrying on a commercial activity. The group must consist of companies controlled directly or indirectly that carry on an operating activity. The holding company may provide them, on a purely internal basis, with administrative, legal, accounting, financial and real estate services.

For an unlisted company, the Dutreil pact rests on the following main conditions:

• Exemption from gift and inheritance tax on 75% of the value of the shares transferred.
• Collective holding commitment of at least two years, covering at least 17% of the financial rights and 34% of the voting rights.
• Individual holding commitment of six years for each heir, donee or legatee, starting from the end of the collective commitment.
• For a company subject to corporate income tax, a management position held by a signatory or a beneficiary during the collective commitment and the three years following the transfer.
• Exclusion of the value of certain assets not used in the business, such as residential properties, passenger vehicles or works of art.

The activity condition must in principle be met from the signing of the collective commitment until the end of the individual commitment. For recent changes to the scheme, read our article on the Dutreil pact in 2026 (in French).

Other regimes apply to any parent company, whether active or not. The parent company regime requires a shareholding of at least 5% of the share capital, held for two years (Article 145 of the Tax Code (in French)). Dividends received are then deducted from taxable profit, subject to a 5% share of costs and expenses (Article 216 of the Tax Code (in French)). This share is reduced to 1% in certain cases, in particular between companies of a tax-consolidated group for more than one financial year.

A holding company that holds at least 95% of the share capital of its subsidiaries, continuously throughout the financial year, may elect for tax consolidation. It then becomes solely liable for the group’s corporate income tax (Article 223 A of the Tax Code (in French)). Outside a tax-consolidated group, net financial expenses are capped. Their deduction is limited to the higher of two amounts: €3,000,000 or 30% of adjusted taxable income (Article 212 bis of the Tax Code (in French)). Cash management transactions between companies linked by effective control fall outside the banking monopoly (Article L. 511-7 of the French Monetary and Financial Code (Code monétaire et financier) (in French)).

How we assist you

• Analyse the current organisation of the holding company: shareholdings, control, functions performed, services provided to subsidiaries.
• Formalise the active management role: articles of association, management bodies, committees, minutes recording group policy decisions.
• Draft intragroup services agreements, consistent with our practice on management fees.
• Put in place cash pooling agreements between the holding company and its subsidiaries.
• Check the conditions of the parent company regime and of tax consolidation.
• Prepare a Dutreil pact and monitor compliance with its conditions throughout the commitment periods.

What is at stake for you

The main issue arises when the business is passed on. An active holding company may have its own shares placed under the Dutreil regime, subject to the other conditions. If the classification is challenged, so is the partial exemption. The documentation of the active management role must therefore be kept up to date, year after year.

The parent company and tax consolidation regimes have their own shareholding conditions. They must be checked separately. Every situation is different: we analyse your group before making any recommendation and assist you over time.

Every situation is different: the information on this page is general and does not replace legal advice tailored to your case. The firm makes no promise of outcome; it commits to the means it deploys.