What happens to the assets when a business closes?

When a company is dissolved (or closes), the assets must be liquidated (i.e., sold). The process often involves an auction of the company’s non-cash assets, liquidation sale over time or an complete sale to a buyer. In many cases, the funds acquired from these sales are then used to repay loans or may be pocketed by the owner.

What are non-cash assets? Assets can include:

• Inventory
• Office equipment
• Machinery
• Real estate
• Company-owned vehicles
• Customer Lists
• Websites, social media pages, phone numbers

This means there is going to be a very specific group of interested buyers – often, competitors are the most interested in your assets. Thankfully, because they are in the same industry (more often than not, running a very similar business), your assets are very beneficial to them. The price for these assets is decided by market value, which can be established by an intermediary to keep things fair.

Selling the assets is often necessary to recoup as much money as possible for the company’s creditors. This will ensure the owner is not left owing significant amounts of money, on top of everything else that goes into closing the business.

Since no two business closures are alike, one cannot predict the outcome with accuracy. This is why we need professionals. Transworld Business Advisors has a team of experts in all things business. If you are on the brink of a business closure or are currently dealing with the aftermath of one, our local advisors can guide you through the important and extremely necessary next steps.