Snohomish County Washington Buying or Selling a Business Attorney

The sale of a whole or part of a business presents complicated legal issues. You must either address these before the deal closes and be in a position to deal with any post-sale issues, whether they relate to the business or tax matters.

As the buyer, there are two crucial stages of the transaction:

• Negotiating the terms of the purchase with the seller
• The due diligence process before the deal closes

Due diligence is when you get to take a close look at the target company’s books to review their business agreements and any potential liabilities. Once you buy the business, you become the successor in interest and inherit any legal liabilities. If you miss something crucial in this process, there may be little that you can do about it, given that you had the legal right to “look at the books” before the deal closed. Therefore, you need to take due diligence very seriously.

As the seller, you have your own interests and legal issues. First, you need to secure deal terms that adequately protect you and set up the conditions for the success of the transactions. In addition, the buyer may raise issues that they find in due diligence and seek to renegotiate the deal. Finally, you may have tax considerations that dictate that you structure the deal a certain way.

In addition, you may have regulatory issues that could impact whether the deal closes and requirements that you seek permits or give notice to customers or governmental entities. Our lawyers help you anticipate the impacts the deal will have on your business and the obligations that you need to meet once the deal closes.

Call a Snohomish County Business Lawyer Today

If you are buying or selling a business, you need a one-stop legal shop to work with you. Call a Washington buy/sell business attorney at Bountiful Law at 425.775.9700 or contact us online to schedule an appointment.