Sale and/or purchase of a business

Buying or selling of a business, or buying or selling business assets, can be a complicated and distracting process.

At Baines Bagguley Penhale we can assist you at every stage of your transaction, from negotiating and drafting Heads of Terms, advising and assisting with the due diligence process, preparing legal documentation and completing your transaction successfully without unnecessary delay.

We will ensure that you are fully advised and aware of the complications that can arise as a result of the TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (protection of Employment) Regulations. These regulations deal with the rights of existing employees in a business which is to be sold.

In most instances dealing with a business acquisition involves more than one area of legal work. We are experienced and regularly assist our clients in relation to the following matters:

• Acquisition of commercial property, whether this is a freehold or leasehold premises, licensed premises, trading or factory units, offices or retail premises. We can assist and guide you through the process
• We can help in negotiating and setting up new business leases, either as landlord or as tenant
• We regularly assist existing business owners, in negotiating the assignment of a Lease or the renewal of an existing Lease
• We can help property developers by providing expert advice on:
  – Preparation of property option agreements
  – The law concerning planning and any environmental issues
  – All aspects of land acquisition, site development and disposal
  – The formation of commercial flat management companies
• Whether you own an existing business or are setting up a new business, we can assist in any legal work associated with obtaining lending or re-financing existing borrowings
• Where the business to be purchased is a limited company, as can advise and assist you in relation to the considerations and steps to be taken in acquiring the shares of a company, rather than a simple transfer of business assets

We take the view that it is essential to fully understand your business’ position and plans for the future, in order to fully advise and assist you in relation to a specific transaction.

 

At Baines Bagguley Penhale we fully appreciate that just as every business is different, so every transaction is different. We take the view that it is essential to fully understand your business’ position and plans for the future, in order to fully advise and assist you in relation to a specific transaction. We also strongly recommend to clients that they involve accountancy experts where appropriate, to ensure that any steps that they take or decisions that are made do not have adverse tax implications

We understand that clients do not always need a solicitor to guide them through the entire process and we are therefore able to offer a limited service to experienced commercial clients by way of providing detailed advice on the proposed documents, rather than assisting in the negotiation and drafting of those documents on our clients’ behalf.

Our fees for written advice on the terms of a proposed Lease start from £250.00 plus VAT, and our fees for assisting in negotiating and drafting the Lease documentation start from £550.00 plus VAT.

For further information relating to the likely fees charged for this service please contact us.

We pride ourselves on providing practical advice at every stage of the transaction, and always strive to ensure that our clients fully understand all steps taken and any course of action in the transaction so that informed decisions can be made.

For further information or to discuss a particular project please contact Richard Bagguley or Nicola Codd.