"...practical and thorough threatment of a complaex subject. No one who buys this book will be disappointed."
Law Society Gazette
...provides an excellent summary of the legal and taxation aspects of buying and selling a business or shares in a private company...invaluable as a practical guide."
Journal of the Law Society of Scotland
For practitioners involved in the buying and selling of companies, many issues need to be considered. Whilst there are obvious company law issues, other issues like property law, environmental law and litigation need to be mulled over. To overcome this difficulty, Beswick & Wine: Buying and Selling of Private Companies and Businesses provides a one-stop resource to resolve these issues together with a number of excellent precedents.
Susan Singleton, an experienced commercial solicitor and author of numerous books on commercial law issues, has taken over the task of editing this seventh edition. Beswick & Wine: Buying and Selling of Private Companies and Businesses is, unsurprisingly, extremely well-written and explains the key principles of buying and selling private companies and businesses in a logical and coherent way. Whilst it predominantly considers the legal issues, it also explains the practical issues which is extremely useful for advisors.
Singleton's aim is to update and maintain the goodwill associated with Beswick & Wine: Buying and Selling of Private Companies and Businesses. Whilst she achieves this aim in the main, there are some issues which do not reflect the current law. For example, page 240 states that for a business lease to be outside the protection of Part II to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, a court order is needed. However, since June 2004 parties to an excluded lease simply need to serve and sign statutory notices. Similarly, the precedent share purchase agreement refers to section 70 of the Land Registration Act 1925, which was repealed in 2003. These errors undermine the reader's confidence in what is an otherwise excellent text.
Beswick & Wine: Buying and Selling of Private Companies and Businesses includes a CD-ROM which has electronic copies of the excellent precedent documents, most of which are written in plain English. The precedents cannot, however, be installed onto the hard drive so anyone using them will need to keep the CD-ROM close to hand. There is, however, a tremendous selection of precedents including a share purchase agreement, disclosure letter and a completion agenda.
Anyone advising on the buying and selling of private companies and businesses should seriously consider buying Beswick & Wine: Buying and Selling of Private Companies and Businesses. It provides an accessible and readable account of the basic principles and includes a number of excellent precedents (which are available electronically). Its price also means it provides excellent value for money. If the minor issues are resolved, it will be an indispensible guide.
Reviewed on 20 October 2008
Student Law Journal