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MediEstates - Should you sell your practice to an associate?
Should you sell your practice to an associate?

You would be forgiven for thinking that selling your practice to an associate – a colleague you know and trust – would make the sale of your practice easier and quicker. This isn’t always the case, but with the right advice and support it could work well for all involved.

Four tips for selling to an associate


1. YOU STILL NEED TO FIX A FAIR PRICE. Where personal relationships are involved, it is very difficult to agree a fair price without the help of a neutral third party.
Instructed by the vendor, a broker can conduct the negotiations buyer, which ensures objectivity and that a fair price will be reached.

2. BUSINESS IS BUSINESS. Despite the personal connection between you and your buyer, this is probably the biggest financial transaction you will ever make, so it must not be clouded by any sense of personal obligation.
Instructing a broker immediately puts the sale on a business footing by ensuring a financial commitment is made by the buyer in the payment of a deposit. This secures the sale and starts the ‘sold subject to contract’ (SSTC) process.

3. FINDING A BUYER IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. The SSTC process is lengthy, and that’s the case whoever your buyer is. Even though your associate will be familiar with the practice, staff and patients, taking over ownership is entirely different. Their solicitor and finance lender will require answers to a long list of questions regarding the practice building and business. Both sides also have to apply to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at various times and potentially go into temporary partnership if there is an NHS contract.

4. IT STARTED SO WELL. Selling to an associate, colleague or friend has a higher failure rate than selling on the open market, so what seemed like a good idea at the start may well not turn out as planned. What happens if your associate pulls out? You could end up back at square one.

Expert advice
Selling to an associate can work really well; however, it is vital to ensure you have an experienced dental practice broker, such as Mediestates, to see you safely through the sale process.

We can guide you through every step, including tackling the CQC application. If your associate does get cold feet, we have over 4,000 registered buyers on our books who could step into their shoes.

Posted by: Alison Bates on

General Buyer Terms 

This agreement is in relation to MediEstates Limited whose registered office is at 1st Floor, Pacific House, Stanier Way, Wyvern Business Park, Derby, DE21 6BF acting for and on behalf of our clients ("the Vendors"); and yourself (Buyer's Name) in relation for an introduction to a prospective sale of a business as a going concern. By registering through this agreement I agree to all terms set out below:

  1. Definitions
    In this Agreement the following terms and phrases shall have the following meaning unless the context otherwise requires:

    Business
    Dental Practice business providing dental care. This business is under the MediEstates Ltd sale terms.
    Confidential Information
    Means the actual Vendors identity and all confidential information in respect of the Business, including, but not limited to, any ideas, business methods, prices, accounts, finance, marketing, research, development, manpower plans, processes, market opportunities, intentions, design rights, product information, customer lists or details, employees’ details, trade secrets, computer systems and software, and other matters connected with the products or services manufactured, marketed, provided or obtained by the Vendor, and information concerning the Vendor’s relationships with actual or potential clients or customers and the needs and requirements of such clients’ or customers’ operations.
  2. Obligation of Confidentiality
    The Prospective Purchaser agrees to treat as confidential, information supplied by or on behalf of the Vendor in connection with the sale of the Business.
  3. Exclusions
    The obligation of confidentiality set out in clause 2 does not apply to:
    1. any information received from a third party who was legally free at the time of disclosure to disclose it;
    2. any information which was already lawfully in the Prospective Purchaser’s possession prior to receiving it from MediEstates Ltd on behalf of the Vendor; and
    3. any information which is in its entirety already in the public domain.
  4. Duties of Prospective Purchaser
    1. The Prospective Purchaser shall take such a reasonable security measures to protect the Confidential Information and trade secrets.
    2. The Prospective Purchaser shall not, without the prior written consent of the Vendor, permit any of the Confidential Information:
      1. to be disclosed, other than in confidence to its legal or professional advisors;
      2. to be copied or reproduced;
      3. to be commercially exploited in any way;
      4. to be used for any purpose other than in connection with the prospective purchase of the Business;
      5. MediEstates is registered under the Data Protection Act 2018. Upon Signing this agreement you agree to follow the legal obligations of this act to protect the details of the information supplied to you, with it no to be passed outside of the control of you the prospective purchaser.
    3. The Prospective Purchaser agrees to keep a record of Confidential Information received.
    4. The Prospective Purchaser will return to MediEstates or the Vendor all documents containing Confidential Information and all copies of those documents on demand at any time which are in its possession or under its control, and for this purpose the term “documents” includes computer discs and all other materials capable of storing data and information. The Prospective Purchaser agrees that such documents remain the property of the MediEstates on behalf of the Vendor.
    5. The Prospective Purchaser must not jeopardise or re-direct the sale under any circumstances.
    6. The Prospective Purchaser must not contact the Local Area Team or CCG regarding any practice sale, by any means of media unless written permission is granted from the Vendor.
    7. To carry out own due diligence on practice purchases and accepts that any information MediEstates has supplied is information provided by the vendor and is not responsible for its accuracy or completeness.
  5. This Agreement
    The existence of this Agreement and its terms are confidential and neither MediEstates nor the Purchaser may disclose anything about this Agreement or its subject matter or implementation to any person other than in confidence to their legal or professional advisers.
  6. Duties of Prospective Purchaser
    When buying Dental practices, finance is normally needed. Our organisation operated over more than one of the MediHoldings brand, by completing this from you agree that the information can be shared to our other organisations to avoid the need to register independently and provide the best possible service.

    MediEstates will refer you to the specialist dental lending team and MediFinancial who will contact the necessary banks, whom have preferential healthcare lending rates in some cases, to ascertain which funding is available to you.
    By signing this agreement you do not have to use any of the banks MediFinancial contact, it is just another service which we provide.
  7. Deposit for Dental Practice
    If you are interested in putting forward a formal offer in for a practice, once the offer is accepted there will be a deposit required to secure the practice sale which is dependant of the practice size. This deposit is held in a client account and will be returned to the buyer on completion of the practice sale. You the buyer, will be required to sign a deposit schedule which will cover the buyer and the seller in the event that the practice sale does not proceed.
  8. Changes to this Agreement
    Any changes made to this agreement must be authorised and signed by one of MediEstates Ltd Directors.
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