Leasehold pubs

Posted by Justin on Apr 12, 2009 in Blogs, business, buying, buying-pubs, English Pub, law, legal, legal-procedure, pub-buying, pub-sale, pub-sales, pubs, selling, solicitor | 0 comments Stage 10 in my overview of pub sale and purchase procedure: ” If the pub is leasehold, it is normal that the landlord’s consent to the transfer of the lease to the buyer is needed. Whatever timescale the buyer and seller have agreed, this is subject to the need to get “licence to assign” first. Usually, the procedure for this will have been started at stage 1, so that...
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Stage 7: Money, money, money

Posted by Justin on Mar 24, 2009 in Blogs, business, buying, buying-pubs, English Pub, legal-procedure, pub-buying, pub-sale, pub-sales, pubs, selling, solicitor | 0 comments While all the legal investigations are being dealt with, the buyer needs to get his or her finances in place, ready to – (a) pay a deposit (usually ten per cent of the purchase price) on exchange of contracts and (b) pay the rest of the purchase money, plus legal expenses, plus the stock value, on completion As exchange of contracts and completion often take place on the same day, the...
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Stage 6 – agreeing the contract terms

Posted by Justin on Mar 15, 2009 in Blogs, business, buying, buying-pubs, English Pub, legal, legal-procedure, pub-buying, pub-sale, pub-sales, pubs, selling, solicitor | 0 comments When the seller’s solicitor prepared the draft contract, it will have included the obvious terms (eg: price) and terms to protect the seller (eg: an indemnity by the buyer in respect of post-completion debts of the business), but not necessarily any terms to protect the buyer (eg: non-competition clauses by the seller). It is the buyer’s solicitor’s job to make sure the...
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Searches – what are they all about?

Posted by Justin on Mar 8, 2009 in Blogs, business, buying, buying-pubs, English Pub, law, legal, legal-procedure, pub-buying, pub-sale, pub-sales, pubs, selling, solicitor | 0 comments Lawyers often talk about “the searches”, but what do they mean? The main search is the “local search” – strictly, a search in the register of local land charges maintained by the local district or borough council (or unitary authority), combined with a range of enquiries raised with that council, all in relation to the property being searched against – not in...
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Stage 3: Checking the paperwork

Posted by Justin on Mar 7, 2009 in Blogs, business, buying, buying-pubs, English Pub, law, legal, legal-procedure, pub-buying, pub-sale, pub-sales, pubs, selling, solicitor | 0 comments This is where the Buyer’s solicitor can get his (or her) teeth into things: going through the lease (if the pub is leasehold) and the other title documents, checking for defects or problems, raising enquiries about any problems as well as a wide range of other enquiries about the property and the business, and reporting to the Buyer on what is found. It is important that the Buyer and the...
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Stage 2: draft contract

Posted by Justin on Feb 10, 2009 in Blogs, business, buying, buying-pubs, English Pub, legal-procedure, pub-buying, pub-sale, pub-sales, pubs, solicitor | 0 comments If the seller has prep’d his or her solicitor, so that the solicitor has the relevant title documents, getting a draft contract out to the buyer’s solicitor should not be a lengthy process or involve any delay. Selling a single pub is much like selling any other small business, except for the need to deal with the transfer of the premises licence and the fact that the inventory is...
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