From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishassociated companyasˌsociated ˈcompany noun [countable] BBCa company of which 20 to 50 per cent of the shares are owned by another company
Examples from the Corpus
associated company• Associated company A parent company has a 30% interest in an associated company.• However, it should almost certainly be treated as an associated company and be equity-accounted in future.• While the plaintiff was working under the control of an associated company he was injured.• In the parent company's own balance sheet, the investment in the associated company should be shown at cost.• How should the associated company be treated in the parent's consolidated financial statements?From Longman Business Dictionaryassociated companyasˌsociated ˈcompany (also associate company)COMMERCE a company of which more than 20% but less than 51% of the EQUITY is held by another company or group of companiesEmployees of the National Magazine Company and their associated companies may not enter this competition. → company 