Business sales and acquisitions in Valencia

There is no fixed timeframe. It depends on how well prepared the documentation is, the size of the company, how many buyers are a good fit for it and how the financing is negotiated. What does shorten the process is going to market with clear accounts, well-organised contracts and an honest explanation of the weak points before the buyer discovers them on their own.

The profile varies by sector: competitors who want to grow or enter another area, managers looking to stop being employees, private investors, family groups and, in companies of a certain size, funds or family offices. Each of them values different things, so it is worth thinking from the start about which type of buyer your business suits best.

They are two different transactions. In a sale of shares (participaciones, the shares of an SL — a Spanish limited company), the buyer acquires the whole company, with its history; in an asset sale, they take only what is agreed, such as customers, machinery or brand. The tax and liability consequences differ greatly from one approach to the other, so it is worth confirming this with a tax and legal adviser before deciding.

The usual approach is to first present an anonymous profile of the company and ask for a confidentiality agreement before revealing the name or sensitive data. Information is provided in stages, from the general to the detailed, as the interested party shows they are serious. Employees and customers usually find out when the transaction is well advanced. If the business is sold as a going concern (unidad productiva), Article 44 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Spanish Workers' Statute) requires the workers' representatives or, if there are none, the workforce to be informed in advance; it is worth confirming this with an employment adviser.

None on its own. The official figures describe the environment: how many companies and establishments there are and in which activities. The value of your company comes from its own numbers, above all its normalised profit, and from factors such as dependence on the owner, customer concentration or the condition of equipment, which are explained on each sector page.