Buying or Selling a Business
Buying or Selling a Business
Strategies to minimise costs and maximise profits when buying or selling your business
Colin Cook & Associates has wide-ranging experience in assisting our clients with buying, selling and amalgamating businesses.
Whether your transaction is large or small, or involves the sale or purchase of assets, shares or a combination of both, we can advise and guide you through the entire process from initial enquiry through to completion.
We can guide you through the essential steps of purchasing a business and these include:
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Completing due diligence
- Reviewing past year’s sales and financials
- Assessing all assets and potential liabilities
- Obtaining existing personnel
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Securing finance
- We can assist with the preparation of funding documentation and help you provide the financial institution with the financial records they require.
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Business structure
- We can assist you in selecting the correct business structure suitable to you and your business needs. Options include sole trader, partnership, family trust or company.
- We can organise GST, ABN and other statutory registrations.
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Contract documentation
- We can assist you in obtaining the best legal advice to finalise documentation as required.
There are also many elements to be considered when selling a business, some of these include:
- Determining all inclusions and exclusions and ensuring they are clearly stipulated in the sale contract
- Sale structure; cash outright or sale of shares, and whether you include or exclude buildings and other assets
- Consider existing clients and personnel – decide on termination or negotiating contracts with new owners
- Tax (including GST and capital gains tax) and stamp duty implications
- Distribution of sale proceeds
We can assist you to ensure a smooth sale or purchase and if required, we can refer you to the appropriate specialist business advisers such as Solicitors, Financial Planners and Business Brokers.
