Asset vs Share Purchase Advisory
The single most important tax and liability decision in your Canadian acquisition.
What's Included
Asset purchase or share purchase? This single decision affects your tax bill, your liability exposure, your financing options, and your closing complexity. Most first-time Canadian buyers get this wrong.
We work with your accountant and lawyer to analyze: - Tax implications: CCA bump-up, tax cost of inventory, GST/HST - Liability transfer: with shares you inherit everything, with assets you cherry-pick - Employee transfer rules (different for assets vs shares) - License and permit transferability - Lease assignment and contract assignment - Seller's tax preference (Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption favors share sale) - Financing impact (banks often prefer asset deals)
Most Canadian SMB buyers prefer assets; most sellers prefer shares. We negotiate the structure with a price adjustment that fairly compensates the side that gives in.
Key Benefits
Tax savings of $50k-$300k on mid-market deals
Liability properly transferred (or avoided)
Financing structure aligned with deal type
Seller's LCGE preserved when possible
Price adjustment that fairly splits the tax delta
Available in These Packages
Related Deal Services
More services in the same M&A lifecycle stage.
Offer & Negotiation
Build offer terms, price, financing structure, and negotiation tactics that protect your interests.
Letter of Intent
Draft a non-binding LOI that locks the deal, sets diligence access, and protects you in exclusivity.
Deal Structure
Design asset vs share, earn-out, VTB, holdback, and tax-optimized closing structure.
Payment & Financing
Design and source the financing stack: bank, BDC, vendor, SBA, and equity.