Doing business with insolvent (or potentially insolvent) companies

Don’t buy a pig in a poke

Suppliers and customers

If you have made an advance payment to a supplier and now hear that they are in financial difficulties, we can advise you on how to obtain delivery or get your money back. Having said that, we would much prefer to help prevent such situations from arising in the first place. If you have the impression that a customer of yours is either insolvent or heading in that direction, our lawyers will be pleased to advise you about how to get your money or in any event how you can secure the title to the goods that you have supplied to your customer.

Company takeovers

The current economic climate creates opportunities as well as threats. For example, there’s now much more room for negotiation if you’re thinking of acquiring a company. In other words, it’s a good time to think about expanding your business. However, careful preparation and sound legal checks remain as important as ever. After all, if you’re offered an opportunity to buy a company for next to nothing, you want to be sure that you’re not buying a pig in a poke.

We can perform a due diligence audit in which we screen your target company, checking whether there are any legal, tax or other problems or risks such as rights and obligations under employment contracts that are automatically transferred as a result of a takeover (like back-service payments). If necessary and with your agreement, we’ll call in the help of external specialists such as accountants and tax consultants. Our lawyers will also study the risks that could arise if the target company is declared bankrupt. We can ensure that your takeover is ’bankruptcy-proof’.

Why should you contact our insolvency law lawyers?

We have considerable experience in mergers and acquisitions. Thanks to our experience as receivers, we’re good at assessing risks. You can use the results of a due diligence audit to make a comprehensive analysis of the advantages, problems and risks associated with the takeover, on the basis of which you can then decide whether or not to proceed with it.