In Iran, a great percentage of goods and services are produced by holding companies however, these companies are not still known completely. There are several factors that can motivate economic managers to establish holding companies. Regarding the basic differences among vertical, horizontal and conglomerate holding companies, this article aims to diagnose and prioritize these factors separately and classify them in managerial, financial and legal categories. After extracting factors which are influential in the three types of holding companies, and based on the reviewed literature, these factors will be analyzed from the viewpoint of listed holding companies’ managers. The prioritization of components of each factor is done by analytical hierarchy process (AHP). For this purpose, influential factors for all types of holding companies in Iran are diagnosed using questionnaires, and then components of factors are prioritized by other questionnaires. According to holding companies’ executives, the three groups namely managerial, financial and legal factors are considered influential in establishment of all three types of holding companies. Also we found out that the components of factors and their priorities differ among the three types of holding companies.