This form is an Asset Purchase Agreement. The buyer agrees to purchase from the seller certain assets which are listed in the agreement. The form also provides a listing of certain assets which will be excluded from the sale. The form must be signed in the presence of a notary public.
Difference Between Asset Sale And Stock Sale With Sale In Orange
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State:
Multi-State
County:
Orange
Control #:
US-00418
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Word;
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FAQ
The benefit of an asset sale, from the buyer's perspective, is that it can select which assets and liabilities to acquire in the deal, compared to a stock sale or merger, where the buyer acquires all the assets and liabilities of the target.
An asset sale occurs when a business sells all or a portion of its assets. The seller, or target company, in this type of deal, is still legally the owner of the company, but no longer owns the assets sold. In a stock sale, the buyer acquires equity from the target company's shareholders.
In an asset sale, the seller faces double taxation: the company pays taxes on the sale of assets, and shareholders are taxed on the distribution of proceeds. Buyers may benefit from tax deductions on depreciated assets. In a share sale, the seller typically incurs capital gains tax on the sale of shares.
In an asset sale, the ownership of these acquired assets would change hands, with the buyer negotiating separately for each asset. In a stock sale, ownership of such assets does not change hands in the same way. The target still retains its ownership typically, even if the target has a new owner.
Unlike an asset sale, stock sales do not require numerous separate conveyances of each individual asset because the title of each asset lies within the corporation. With stock sales, buyers lose the ability to gain a stepped up basis in the assets and thus do not get to re-depreciate certain assets.
In a share deal, the buyer acquires a separate legal entity, while under an asset deal the assets and liabilities acquired can be transferred directly into the purchasing legal entity. However, it is often useful to establish a separate legal entity that takes over the business that was acquired via the asset deal.
More than 90 percent of acquisitions of C corporations are structured as asset sales. While stock sales occur between the stockholder (business owner) and the buyer, asset sales occur between the company itself and the buyer. The differences in tax implications for the type of sale for each party could be substantial.
Other potential drawbacks to asset sales for buyers can include an inability to take advantage of any accrued net operating losses or other tax credits that the seller may have, a spike in customer churn upon finding out that the business has been sold, and customer churn if things like payment processing accounts need ...
Asset sales offer tax advantages and selective asset acquisition, but can be complex and require additional time and costs. Equity sales provide simplicity and continuity, but require the buyer to assume all liabilities. Both types of transactions involve important accounting considerations and post-close diligence.