  Aims. We look for common proper motion companions to stars of the nearby
young beta Pictoris moving group. Methods. First, we compiled a list of 185
beta Pictoris members and candidate members from 35 representative works. Next,
we used the Aladin and STILTS virtual observatory tools, and the PPMXL proper
motion and Washington Double Star catalogues to look for companion candidates.
The resulting potential companions were subjects of a dedicated
astro-photometric follow-up using public data from all-sky surveys. After
discarding 67 sources by proper motion and 31 by colour-magnitude diagrams, we
obtained a final list of 36 common proper motion systems. The binding energy of
two of them is perhaps too small to be considered physically bound. Results. Of
the 36 pairs and multiple systems, eight are new, 16 have only one stellar
component previously classified as a beta Pictoris member, and three have
secondaries at or below the hydrogen-burning limit. Sixteen stars are reported
here for the first time as moving group members. The unexpected large number of
high-order multiple systems, 12 triples and two quadruples among 36 systems,
may suggest a biased list of members towards close binaries or an increment of
the high-order-multiple fraction for very wide systems.

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics