Handing over your business is often the culmination of a working life. A successful handover is prepared several years in advance, with coordinated advisers.
The steps
- Anticipate Clarify your objectives, your timetable and your personal and wealth situation.
- Prepare the business Make the accounts reliable, reduce dependence on the owner, settle outstanding issues.
- Value Estimate a reasoned range of value. See the article on business valuation
- Find the buyer Employee, family, competitor, investor: each profile has its consequences.
- Negotiate and close Letter of intent, due diligence, warranties, sale deed with your lawyer.
Taxation of the sale
Selling shares or a business, retiring, handing over to your children, reinvesting through a holding company: several regimes exist, under strict conditions. The choice is prepared in advance with your chartered accountant, your lawyer and your notary. If you live or plan to live outside France, the tax treatment in both countries must be considered.
Common mistakes
- Starting too late, when a personal event forces a quick sale.
- Overestimating the value without supporting it, and discouraging serious buyers.
- Overlooking the personal taxation of the operation and the reinvestment of the price.
- Not preparing the handover with customers, the team and suppliers.
Three questions to get started
- When do you want to hand over, and to whom?
- What income or capital will you need after the sale?
- Can your business run without you for several weeks?
Our support
Preparation of the accounts, valuation, tax simulations, coordination with your advisers and, on the buyer’s side, due diligence and forecasts, on quotation.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start preparing the handover?
Ideally three to five years before the intended date.
Sell the shares or the business assets?
Selling shares transfers the company with its past; selling the business (fonds de commerce) transfers only the activity. Taxation and warranties differ.
Are there schemes for family handovers?
Yes, some regimes allow, subject to a commitment to keep the shares, a reduction in the base for transfer duties. They are prepared with your notary.
What if the buyer is an employee?
It is often a successful handover: they know the business and its customers. Financing and support for the buyer must be anticipated.
How is the capital gain on the sale taxed?
According to the nature of the shares or business, the company’s tax regime and the seller’s situation. Allowances or exemptions exist under strict conditions.