the degree of ownership where a company owns less than a majority of the voting stock/shares of another company, or when two or more companies are subsidiaries of a third company (a subsidiary which i, any undertaking the annual accounts of which are consolidated with those of the contracting entity in accordance with the requirements of the seventh Council Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983, base, associated undertaking - an undertaking in which a group (e.g. of companies or other legal entities) has a participating interest and exercises a significant influence over its operating and financial