How to sell your Business
When the time comes to sell your Business, it can be one of the most significant and stressful financial transactions you will ever make. In this webinar, Roger Holman of Mark Davies & Associates and Liz Barton from Doyle Clayton demystify the process in a practical, step-by-step guide. How do you choose whether to sell your whole company and its shares or just its assets, allowing a potential buyer to pick and choose exactly what they want to buy? Both can have huge tax consequences depending on your plans for the future. Freeing a lump sum by selling the shares triggers Capital Gains Tax on the gain, some of which may be relieved by Business Asset Disposal Relief. However, if you would like to invest the proceeds for the future it may be better to do this within a corporate environment.
It is vitally important to choose trusted legal as well as tax advisers before you start to sell your business, in case restructuring is needed before taking your business to market. Other considerations include seeking advice on preparing for the due diligence process and the safe transfer of confidential information. Once you reach the sale agreement, terms of payment need careful analysis, as tax on the full consideration of the sale will still be owed to HMRC from the time of the sale. This is so even if some payments are deferred and dependent on the company’s ongoing performance. If these future payments are undervalued, this can trigger penalties from HMRC. As well as ensuring that competition restrictions and agreed indemnities are fair, legal advisers will also examine the details of warranties on the sale – how long will they stand for and is there a cap on the amount you will be liable for?
Contact Liz Barton – Head of Corporate Law at Doyle Clayton