The headline price gets the attention, but the documents decide what you actually walk away with.
A share sale transfers the company with all its history and liabilities attached; an asset sale takes the parts you want and leaves the rest, but needs each contract, licence and employee dealt with.
What the seller promises about the business, how long those promises last, what they are capped at and what was disclosed against them will matter far more, on either side, than the last round of haggling over price.
We act for buyers and sellers of companies and business assets.
We help with:
- choosing between a share sale and an asset sale, and why it matters;
- heads of terms and exclusivity;
- legal due diligence, and turning findings into price or protection;
- share purchase and asset purchase agreements;
- warranties, indemnities and the disclosure exercise; and
- the ancillary documents needed to complete.
For sellers, the work is controlling warranty exposure and running a disclosure exercise that is thorough enough to protect you. For buyers, it is making sure what diligence uncovers turns into a price adjustment, an indemnity or a condition rather than a paragraph in a report nobody acts on.
We work alongside your accountant and tax adviser, and we do not advise on tax structuring ourselves.
Our Approach
Legal advice that makes running and growing your business easier.
We start with your business, not the law.
Before we open a document, we want to understand what you are trying to do commercially. The legal answer is only useful if it serves that.
We get to the point.
You get a clear view of what matters and what does not, in plain English, with the real risks separated from the noise.
We give you an answer.
Not a menu of options and a shrug. We tell you what we would do, why, and where there is a genuine judgment call for you to make.
We stay available.
Whether you work with us on a single project or on a subscription, we are here for the follow-up question. We would always rather you asked.
Ways of working together
Fixed-fee projects
A single, defined piece of work for an agreed fixed fee, communicated before we engage. Reviewing a contract, drafting your terms, handling a negotiation.
No surprises and no hidden fees
Flagship Subscription
Ares Access
Ongoing support on a fixed monthly subscription, for businesses that need commercial legal input regularly rather than as the occasional one-off.
- Dedicated lawyer
- Fixed monthly fees
- Commercial advice on demand
From £500 plus VAT per month
Legal Health Check
Fixed fee of £2,000 plus VAT
Any questions?
Phone: 02382 420035
