When a supplier stops responding, a competitor closes its doors, or a takeover opportunity arises, the first question is often the same: how to verify that a company is indeed in judicial liquidation, and where to find this information without paying for an expensive subscription? Several public and free tools allow access to liquidation judgments issued by French courts. However, one must know which to consult based on what they are looking for.
Typical profile of companies in judicial liquidation in 2026
Before searching for companies in liquidation, it is useful to understand what the current flow looks like. Data from Altares published in 2026 reveals a striking feature: companies with fewer than three employees account for about 75% of collective proceedings. Large SMEs or mid-sized companies in liquidation do exist, but they remain statistically rare.
Another notable fact: companies less than three years old are particularly affected. More than three-quarters of them end up in direct liquidation, without going through judicial recovery. If you are looking for companies to take over or monitoring the health of your business partners, this reality strongly directs the search towards very small structures and young companies.
The overall volume of failures has remained at a high plateau since 2024, with a confirmed upward trend in the second quarter of 2026. To quickly identify these companies, it is possible to access Libre d’Agir for businesses which compiles useful information on the subject.
BODACC and the business register: the two free sources to know
The BODACC (Official Bulletin of Civil and Commercial Announcements) is the most comprehensive source for spotting a judicial liquidation. Each opening judgment issued by a commercial court or a judicial court is subject to mandatory publication on bodacc.fr. Consultation is free and open to all.
How to effectively query the BODACC
The search engine on the site allows filtering by type of announcement. Select the category “collective proceedings” to see only safeguard, recovery, or liquidation judgments. You can refine by department, date, or company name.
The BODACC also publishes closure judgments and transfer plans, which allows tracking the entire cycle of a procedure. For a buyer, this is a crucial point: a transfer judgment published in the BODACC indicates that a business or assets are available.
The site also offers an email alert system. By creating a free account, you will receive a notification each time an announcement matching your criteria is published. This is the simplest way to set up automatic monitoring without a paid tool.
The national business register as a complement
The national business register (RNE), accessible via the INPI website, mentions ongoing collective proceedings for each registered company. A company’s file indicates whether a liquidation judgment has been pronounced, along with the opening date and the name of the appointed judicial liquidator.
Cross-referencing BODACC and RNE provides a reliable view of a company’s legal situation. The BODACC provides the details of the judgment, while the RNE confirms the current status of the registration.
Specialized platforms and registries: when free is not enough
Are you looking to take over a company in liquidation, along with its equipment, commercial lease, or clientele? Official free sources provide raw information, but not always the necessary context to act quickly.
Actify and asset transfer marketplaces
Platforms like Actify position themselves as regulated marketplaces. They aggregate asset transfer announcements published by judicial representatives and liquidators. The main advantage: the announcements are categorized by industry, location, and type of asset (business assets, equipment, brand, lease).
These platforms facilitate the sorting work that the BODACC does not perform. The BODACC publishes all commercial announcements without distinction. A specialized platform filters only the takeover opportunities, which saves considerable time for the buyer.
The commercial court registry for file documents
The commercial court registry remains the essential step to obtain official documents: complete opening judgment, list of creditors, inventory of assets. Not all of these documents are accessible online. Some require a direct request to the registry, which may involve a fee.
For a creditor who needs to declare their claim, the registry provides the contact details of the appointed judicial representative or liquidator. The claim declaration period begins from the publication in the BODACC, making monitoring this bulletin even more strategic.
Setting up monitoring for judicial liquidations without paid tools
Regularly monitoring judicial liquidations does not require a budget, but a method. Here are the elements to combine:
- BODACC email alerts, set up for a department or industry, to receive new liquidation judgments as soon as they are published.
- A monthly consultation of the RNE to check the status of partner or competitor companies, particularly those less than three years old that present a higher risk of direct liquidation.
- Monitoring legal announcements in the regional press, which publishes the same judgments sometimes with a shorter delay than the BODACC for local cases.
- Occasional consultation of platforms like Actify when the goal is to take over assets or business funds.
This combination covers the majority of needs: monitoring business partners, identifying takeover opportunities, or simple competitive monitoring.
The most common pitfall is to monitor only one source. The BODACC may publish a judgment several days after it is issued. Local legal announcements or the court registry may provide information sooner. For a creditor, this delay can shorten the useful period for declaring a claim. Diversifying sources remains the safest method to avoid missing a procedure that concerns you.