Corporate acquisition is what it is called when a company or business is bought by an outside stakeholder.
Most often, a company or legal entity is the buyer in a business acquisition (this is the most tax-advantaged option). However, nothing prevents a natural person from being the buyer.
Corporate acquisitions in practice
A corporate acquisition can be carried out in many different ways, with the simplest variant being that the target company (the acquired company) is a limited liability company and all shares change hands.
Another common variant is, for example, that the business changes owners by taking over the various assets and liabilities of the company (this is a so-called acquisition of assets).
Asset transfer in case of business acquisition
- Machinery
- Equipment
- Stock
- Customer register
- Intellectual property rights
- Goodwill
etc.
Operations continue as usual in the event of an asset acquisition, but with another company as the owner.
As a buyer in a property acquisition, it is important that you check that the seller really owns everything that is being sold.
Checklist for business acquisitions
An acquisition of a company takes some time to complete. What usually takes the longest is the initial strategy phase because that is usually where the board and management team have a great deal of influence on the matter.
Acquisition of a company is often divided into three phases:
- Strategy phase
- The transaction phase
- The integration phase
When the buyer and seller have reached a binding agreement and the buyer has taken over the target company, the integration phase begins.
This phase involves coordinating the organizations of the buying and selling companies.
Realize that all corporate transactions are unique – No acquisition is the same
The potential for growth through acquisitions is very large. At the same time, you cannot be too careful in choosing the company you want to acquire.
Because ultimately, you don’t want to risk being stuck with a fundamental mistake, which might even threaten to bring your entire business down.
If you don’t have an acquisition strategy, you should create one immediately. And if you already have a working acquisition strategy, you still need to be as careful in your tenth acquisition as you were in your first.
Let our knowledgeable corporate lawyers help you navigate the legalities.
- Do you know who should do what initially, during and after an acquisition process?
- Do you and/or your company have the right skills and resources to handle the task?
- Have you identified synergy and rationalization potential linked to a possible acquisition?
- How do you handle the post-acquisition process?
There may be a number of different reasons why you want to acquire a company.
Sometimes it is growth ambitions, i.e. at some point you want to supplement and/or strengthen the business in various ways in order to create space and muscle for growth and grow faster than the market would otherwise allow.
Secure corporate acquisitions with Advantage Law Firm
Our lawyers have extensive experience in handling both large and complicated corporate acquisitions, as well as smaller and more traditional corporate acquisitions, in a safe and efficient manner.
We regularly represent both buyers and sellers in various forms of corporate transactions in many widely diverse industries.
We can of course also provide advice and service during the integration process, which follows the acquisition, to help ensure that the integration between the two businesses is carried out in an efficient and effective manner.
Are you planning to acquire a company?
In that case, contact us at 08-20 21 40 and we’ll have a coffee and talk about corporate acquisitions.
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