Multiple control tests

In addition to his shareholding in company 1 Mr B is also a loan creditor to the extent that he controls the company by virtue of TA 1988 s 416(2)(c). The question is: how many associated companies does company 1 have?
It has been suggested that because all four companies are not under common control then they are not all associated. I disagree considering that s 416(1) should be applied to each of the two control tests separately. 1 2 and 3 are associated because they are all under the control of the same person. 1 and 4 are also associated because they too are under control of the same person (albeit a different person from the first test). My answer is that company 1 has three associated companies.
I should be grateful for readers' agreement or disagreement as the case may be.
Query T17 069   ...