BVvsNV— What's the difference?
BV (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) and NV (naamloze vennootschap) are both business entity forms. The core distinction is ownership: BV is private while NV is public.
At a glance
Key differences
Where each is used
Both used in
BV only
Normalizing BV and NV in your data
When deduplicating company records, both suffixes are noise — “Acme BV” and “Acme NV” should resolve to the same entity. The Ambect API strips either suffix at the legal_suffix stage and records it separately:
// "Acme BV" → canonical: "acme" // "Acme NV" → canonical: "acme"
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between BV and NV?
BV is a private limited liability company, while NV is a public limited liability company. The key difference is ownership structure — BV is private while NV is public.
Is BV the same as NV?
No. BV is a private limited liability company (limited liability, private) while NV is a public limited liability company (limited liability, public).
Which countries use both BV and NV?
Both suffixes appear in Czechia, Netherlands.
How does Ambect normalize BV and NV?
The Ambect API strips both suffixes at the `legal_suffix` pipeline stage, recording each as `legal_type` in the response. This means "Acme BV" and "Acme NV" both normalize to the canonical token "acme", enabling cross-suffix deduplication.
Explore each suffix
Need to normalize BV and NV records across the same dataset? The Ambect API handles both in a single call.
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