About the Practice

Business sales and acquisitions, established 1981 — with the succession practice a retirement exit needs alongside it.

45+

Years, Established 1981

Buyer

& Seller Advice

Asset

& Share Sales

Fees Agreed

in Writing at the Outset

Owner-Managed Transactions Are Harder, Not Easier

The firm acts on the sale and purchase of owner-managed and SME businesses — a trade sale, a management buyout, a sale to family, an acquisition by a competitor. That segment is frequently assumed to be a simpler version of a large corporate deal. It is usually the opposite. The business and the owner are entangled: assets held personally, an overdraft guaranteed personally, a lease in an individual name, a domain registered to someone’s private email. The accounts were prepared for tax rather than for sale. Key contracts are informal, unwritten, or written twenty years ago and never revisited. And on a large deal there are advisers on every side and a process to hold it together, whereas an SME sale often has one accountant, one solicitor and a buyer in a hurry. That is precisely why the preparation work earns more than the drafting does, and why the most useful conversation happens before a buyer is in the room rather than after heads of terms have been signed.

Two Problems, Not One — and Two Lines the Firm Will Not Cross

A large share of Irish business sales are retirement exits, and those clients have two problems. The deal itself, and what happens to the proceeds. Selling converts an illiquid business into a substantial liquid asset, and a will drafted when the main asset was a trading company frequently makes no sense once that company is gone and the money is in an account — provision for a spouse, for children who worked in the business and children who did not, and the structuring questions that belong with an accountant before the deal is agreed. Richard O’Shea is a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the firm runs a substantial estates practice through probatesolicitordublin.ie, so those questions are raised at the right moment rather than in a separate conversation two years later. As to the two lines: this firm does not advise on tax and does not value businesses. Structure is tax-driven and belongs with your accountant and Revenue before heads of terms; valuation belongs with accountants and corporate finance advisers. Nothing here states a rate, a relief or a multiple — and the firm will decline to draft around a structure nobody has checked.

Thinking About Selling, or Looking at a Business?

The most valuable conversation happens before heads of terms - structure, readiness, and what the other side will ask for. Conflicts are checked first, so name every party and entity in your first email.

Call 01 5827148

Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & TEP

Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors, established 1981, and a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. The firm acts for buyers and sellers on business sales and acquisitions — structure, heads of terms, due diligence, the sale agreement, warranties and disclosure, completion and what follows it. Because a substantial share of Irish business sales are retirement exits, the firm’s estate and succession practice sits alongside the transactional work: the deal and what happens to the proceeds are usually the same client’s problem. Nothing here is tax advice — structure is tax-driven and that belongs with your accountant and Revenue, before heads of terms are signed. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn

About the Practice - FAQs

Owner-managed and SME transactions - the sale of a trading business by the people who built it, a management buyout, a sale to family, or an acquisition by a trade buyer. That is a segment where the legal issues are frequently more awkward than on larger deals rather than less: the business and the owner are entangled, the accounts were prepared for tax rather than for sale, contracts are informal or unwritten, the premises are leased on terms nobody has read in years, and the owner has given personal guarantees they have forgotten about. Large corporate transactions have advisers on every side and processes to match. SME transactions frequently have one accountant, one solicitor and a buyer in a hurry, which is precisely why the preparation work matters so much.

General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about Irish law on business sales and acquisitions. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every transaction turns on its own facts — the structure, the documents, the parties, the consents required — and advice on yours requires a consultation.

Nothing here is tax advice, and tax drives structure. The choice between an asset sale and a share sale is very largely a tax question, and it should be settled with your accountant or tax adviser, and by reference to Revenue’s own guidance, before heads of terms are signed rather than afterwards. This firm does not advise on tax, does not state rates, thresholds, reliefs or conditions, and does not indicate any tax outcome.

No valuation advice. This firm does not value businesses, does not suggest multiples and does not advise on price. Valuation is for accountants and corporate finance advisers, and it is a separate exercise from the legal work.

Never both sides of the same deal. The firm acts for buyers and, in separate transactions, for sellers — but never for both parties to the same sale. Conflicts are checked at first contact, before any substantive discussion, which is why the first email should name every individual and entity involved.

No outcome or timeline is promised. Nothing on this site states or implies that a transaction will complete, that a consent will be obtained, that a warranty claim will succeed, or that any deal will proceed to a particular timetable. Where another jurisdiction is involved, the law of that jurisdiction applies to what happens there and requires local advice; this firm advises on Irish law only.

Fees. Fees are agreed in writing with the client at the outset. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.