Transferring business lease that is on the name of a Limited company

[Petrit Ukmata]

What should be the process of selling of a business lease, that is on a Limited company name and has no other guarantor, to the buyer. I am interested to know if there is any legal way of transferring/selling of shares of the company to the interested party instead of going through lease transfer where solicitors would have to be involved. In other words, if a lease is on a Limited company name, when that company is sold, is it a legal requirement to sign a new lease or not.

Thanks.
Petrit

 

[Mark T Jones]

The answer might well lie in your lease contract

 

[Clinton]

You can transfer the lease. Your lease, if done in the last few years, will likely have an assignment clause where the landlord cannot unreasonable without transfer to a new tenant.

I am interested to know if there is any legal way of transferring/selling of shares of the company to the interested party instead of going through lease transfer where solicitors would have to be involved. In other words, if a lease is on a Limited company name, when that company is sold, is it a legal requirement to sign a new lease or not.

The selling of shares has nothing to do with the transfer of the lease. If someone is buying the shares then in your case they are, as owners of the company, responsible for the lease. There is no transfer of lease to be done (unless you're selling the assets of the company rather than the shares).

However, it is extremely stupid to try and sell a company without the use of a lawyer to draw up a proper Share Purchase Agreement complete with all the protections you need as a seller.