Who you will need for tax, legal and finance, and when.
Before you sell you will need an accountant or tax adviser and a corporate solicitor, and your buyer may need finance. This page says who, and when, without giving advice.
Part of the Reads Pre-Sale Programme.
Why these people come in early.
How a sale is structured, whether it is shares or assets, how much is deferred and when it completes, affects the tax you pay and the protection you have. Those decisions are hard to change once heads of terms are signed, so your specialists need to be involved before then.
Under HMRC's current rules, Business Asset Disposal Relief means an 18% capital gains tax rate on qualifying gains, up to a £1m lifetime limit, and the completion date decides which rate applies. Whether you qualify, and what it means for your sale, is a question for your tax adviser.
Who you will need.
An accountant or tax adviser
Early, ideally a few years before a sale, to look at how the business and your shareholding are set up, and again before heads of terms to check the tax on the deal as it stands.
A corporate solicitor
From heads of terms onwards, to act for you on the sale agreement, the disclosures and the warranties, and on the terms of any deferred payments.
Finance for the buyer
If a buyer needs acquisition finance to complete the purchase, Reads Commercial Finance handles it.
Who to talk to first.
Usually your own accountant, who already knows the business, and then a tax adviser and a corporate solicitor who handle business sales. If you do not have them yet, Simon can suggest the kind of specialist to look for, but the advice comes from them, not from us.
Talk to us about timing.
We can help you work out when to bring each specialist in, alongside the rest of the preparation for a sale.