Purchasing,

selling a buesiness

The support of a professional in the acquisition or sale of a business is essential to ensure the security of this important operation. For the seller, this means securing both the payment of the price and the company’s long-term future. For the buyer, it’s a question of ensuring that the target conforms in every respect to its description. The aim is to be clear, precise and exhaustive, thus avoiding any post-acquisition disputes.

The success of a business acquisition or sale depends largely on the preparatory phase. The acquirer needs to audit the target, and the seller needs to be sure of the acquirer’s true intentions, and of his ability to pay on time.

Of course, the size of the business to be sold and the circumstances will determine the degree of involvement of lawyers, advisors or experts, and the importance of the techniques to be implemented (dataroom, leverage buy out (“LBO”), etc.) or the scope of the deeds to be drawn up (letter of intent (“LOI”), liability guarantees, escrows, earn-out clauses, etc.).

Each business has its own specific features, and requires its own due diligence: you don’t sell a restaurant the same way you sell a hotel, a boutique, a law firm, a transport company, and so on. Each operation is unique, and many activities are “regulated”: if there’s one area where there’s no model to speak of, and where advice from a friend won’t be valid or applicable, it’s this one.

Many areas of law are involved in such an operation: labor law in particular with regard to the employment contracts transferred, commercial law with regard to the contracts transferred, consumer law when, for example, there is a sale to consumers, and of course corporate law since the company or business is the very object of the transfer…

We have experience in a wide range of sectors; please do not hesitate to contact us and we will let you know if we have experience in your field of activity.