Define exactly what you want to buy from the old company
Prepare a specific asset schedule for an advised purchase from a liquidated company, without informal transfer.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
A familiar workshop is not a purchase list
If you want to establish another business after liquidation, you may hope to buy equipment from the old company. Start with exactly what you want to acquire. Saying the workshop package leaves too much unclear: tools, financed machinery, leased items and customer property may all be stored in the same place but have different owners.
Imagine a joinery director proposing to buy a saw, benches and remaining timber stock. Record identifying details, photographs and condition where you are authorised to do so. Separate stock owned by customers or supplied under arrangements needing investigation. Give the liquidator the information and ask what can actually be offered for sale.
ASIC's phoenix guidance discusses independent valuation and payment of true market value in a responsible asset transfer. Ask the liquidator and your independent adviser what valuation and sale process applies. A price you regard as fair is not, by itself, evidence that ownership, authority and the transaction have all been properly dealt with.
Do not treat possession of keys or continued access to the premises as permission to use the assets. Ask who controls access and what arrangements, if any, are available while the proposal is considered. Keep the proposed new business's orders realistic. It cannot promise production based on machinery it has not secured the right to use.
Read the sale documentation with your adviser. Confirm the items, buyer, price, payment arrangements and collection responsibilities. Ask about anything excluded or unresolved. In the joinery example, buying benches does not automatically provide a lease, equipment finance arrangement or the old company's customer contracts. Those need their own assessment and appropriate agreements.
Retain the valuation material supplied, approved agreement, payment evidence and handover records. Update the new company's asset records consistently with the completed transaction. The objective is a transparent purchase that can be explained later, with clear ownership and funding, rather than an informal continuation that leaves creditors and the new business facing unanswered questions.
