{"id":4570,"date":"2022-06-29T03:28:53","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T02:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/?p=4570"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:41:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T23:41:22","slug":"share-purchase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/business-sale-purchase\/share-purchase\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m Looking to Buy a Business in England. Is a Share Purchase Right for Me?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When looking to buy a business, it is fundamental to negotiate how you and the current business owner (the seller) will structure the transaction. The two main structures for business purchases are <\/span>share purchases or asset purchases<\/span><\/a>. Importantly, you can only structure a business purchase as a share purchase if the business trades through a company. This is because only companies have share capital.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, this article is not for potential buyers of <\/span>partnerships or sole trader business<\/span><\/a> structures. We will only consider purchasing companies (or a group of companies). First, we will explain the legal basis for share purchases and then consider the advantages and disadvantages of a share purchase.<\/span><\/p>\n

Business Purchase vs Share Purchase<\/span><\/h2>\n

A company is considered its own legal entity \u2014 also called a body corporate or simply incorporated. As such, it can own property and enter into contracts with others in its own name.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, when looking to purchase a business, the company will own all of the business assets, not the business owners (i.e. shareholders). Therefore, as a buyer, you have two options:<\/span><\/p>\n