Selling a business- solicitor

[pentel]

We have agreed a sale of our business. We are looking for a solicitor to help with this transaction (7 figures) including a free hold property & 10 staff.

Has anyone been through this process and had a good experience with someone they would recommend?

 

[fisicx]

@Clinton. But he left the forum a while back

 

[MikeJ]

Clinton's not a solicitor, is he? I thought he was an advisor/agent.

 

[AndEde]

We have agreed a sale of our business. We are looking for a solicitor to help with this transaction (7 figures) including a free hold property & 10 staff.

Has anyone been through this process and had a good experience with someone they would recommend?

Hi, I sent you a pm. Our experienced firm can assist you.

 

[Nathanto]

We have agreed a sale of our business. We are looking for a solicitor to help with this transaction (7 figures) including a free hold property & 10 staff.

I used Shakespeare Martineau ten or so years ago when they were just known as Martineau and they were excellent, would highly recommend.

My 7 figure sale was a leasehold property with 30 staff and a two year earn-out deal. A year in to the earn-out the buyer made changes that weren't in the spirit of the deal and would have seriously impacted my earnings but Martineau quickly took them to task and resolved things very much in my favour.

Hiring Martineau was probably one of the best two things I ever did regarding the business; the other was paying for proper professional tax advise from an accountant so I ended up only paying 10% tax (Entrepreneurs’ Relief) on the payout.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Clinton's not a solicitor, is he? I thought he was an advisor/agent.

He will be a good source of both contacts and advice on red flags.

Sorry, I can't advise, but do be sure to go with a true specialist, not a generalist

 

[Porky]

@pentel
I just want to add that I’m not sure where you are based, there will likely be plenty of options for you locally, just ensure they are red hot on resolving sale issues and disputes as @Nathanto mentioned.

You see IMO it’s quite ugly out there now, a gentleman’s word is no longer his bond, there is a culture of many trying to get one over the next man. I know I sound like I paint a bleak picture but some are bloody ruthless and it’s not just about doing what they say it’s about what they can get away with and often it’s nearly always either during final stages of DD to try and push the price down that bit more and/or during any earn out periods. Seen it in more cases than I can mention with M&A.

Don’t want to worry you just want to highlight this. Button it down, leave no stone unturned and if cash is paid on an earn out based on future revenues make sure you have nice clear monitoring of that revenue so there is no wiggle out room when they come to the final settlement. Good luck.

 

[Nathanto]

I just want to add that I’m not sure where you are based, there will likely be plenty of options for you locally, just ensure they are red hot on resolving sale issues and disputes

On the disputes aspect I agree 100%, I could have ended up with very little if my solicitors hadn't been so on the ball - this is one expense you don't want to scrimp on.

Regarding location, I was based down south in Watford and Martineau were in Birmingham (at the time although I see they have many more offices now.) We popped up to see them several times and similarly they travelled to us several times but most stuff was done via email/phone so location was a non-issue.

For a seven figure sale you really do want to choose a solicitor based on merits and not convenience of location.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

We have agreed a sale of our business. We are looking for a solicitor to help with this transaction (7 figures) including a free hold property & 10 staff.

Has anyone been through this process and had a good experience with someone they would recommend?

Feel free to DM me for a recommendation, if you are still looking.