Contact

Whether you are selling, buying, or still deciding.

Dublin

The Ormond Building
31–36 Ormond Quay Upper
Dublin 7, D07 EE37
01 5827148
richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com

Kilkenny

2 Rose Inn Street
Kilkenny, R95 W58D
Monday to Friday, 9:00–5:30
Same-week appointments
All enquiries: 01 5827148

Name every party in your first email

The firm acts for buyers and, in separate transactions, for sellers — but never for both parties to the same deal. Conflicts are checked before any substantive discussion, so the first email should name every individual and entity on both sides, with correct legal names where you have them. If a conflict exists you are told immediately, before anything sensitive has been disclosed.

If You Are Selling

1. What exactly is being sold — the company, or the trade and assets.
2. Has an accountant advised on structure? This determines nearly everything else and should come first.
3. Is anything signed already — NDA, heads of terms, and has exclusivity been granted.
4. Are there employees, and how many.
5. Premises — owned or leased; if leased, how long is left and does the lease permit assignment.
6. Your own guarantees. Overdraft, lease, equipment finance, supplier accounts. The obligations sellers most often discover too late.

If You Are Buying

1. What you are acquiring and from whom, with the target’s correct legal name and company number.
2. Shares or assets, and whether your accountant has been asked.
3. What has been agreed, and what of it is in writing.
4. How it is being funded — a lender has its own requirements and timetable, and those frequently set the pace of the deal.
5. What actually matters to you — the customer contracts, the key staff, the premises, the brand, the equipment. That determines where due diligence concentrates and what conditions belong in the agreement.

Two Free Tools First, If You Prefer

The Sale Structure Check walks the asset-versus-share question and what follows from each. The Business Sale Readiness Check produces a gap list ordered by what will delay a deal or reduce the price. Both run entirely on your own device: nothing you enter is stored, sent or seen by anyone. Neither is tax advice — the structure question has to be settled with your accountant.

Getting Started - FAQs

Six things. What exactly is being sold - the company, or the trade and assets. Whether an accountant has advised on structure yet, because that determines almost everything else and should come first. Whether anything is signed already, including any NDA or heads of terms, and whether exclusivity has been granted. Whether there are employees, and how many. Whether the premises are owned or leased, and if leased, how long is left and whether the lease permits assignment. And what you know about your own guarantees - overdraft, lease, equipment finance, supplier accounts - because those are the obligations sellers most often discover late. None of that requires preparation; it just requires the questions to be asked.

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.