branch

A branch is any national, regional, or local office under the home office of a company, as long as it is not set up as an independent subsidiary corporation.

The office belongs to the company whose home office it reports to. It can cover a country or region as well as a local area; its geographical reach does not by itself make it independent.

A separately incorporated subsidiary has its own corporate identity and is excluded by this definition. A franchise name alone does not establish whether an office is a branch of the franchisor.