Selling a business in Ibiza usually means a traspaso: you sell the right to carry on where you are, with the lease, the licence, the fit-out and what the premises already turn over. There are buyers all year round, but they only pay well for what they can verify. A well-prepared transfer closes in weeks; an improvised one sits on the market for months and ends up reduced.
1. Start with your lease
What you are selling depends on what that lease says, so it is the first thing to read.
- Whether it allows the lease to be assigned, forbids it or requires the landlord's consent. If it is silent, the law allows assignment with notice, and the landlord may raise the rent by 20%.
- How many years are left and what extensions there are. This weighs most on the price: with few years ahead, buyers pay little.
- The current rent and how it is reviewed: buyers will do their numbers with the rent they will pay, not yours.
Talk to the landlord early. Sometimes they prefer to sign a new lease with the incoming tenant rather than an assignment; then what you transfer is the fit-out and the business, and you need to know that before setting the price.
2. A price someone will pay
The price of a transfer is not what it cost to set up the business, but what it is worth to carry it on. It is set, in this order, by:
- The years left on the lease and the rent.
- The licence: what activity it covers, whether it includes a kitchen, music or a terrace.
- The location and footfall, in season and out of it.
- The turnover that can be proven.
- The condition of the installations and equipment.
Buyers compare the transfer price with what the business can earn them over a few seasons. If the price takes many years to recover, they do not call. For reference, «Commercial property prices in Ibiza» lists the transfers we currently have with their price and rent.
3. The documents to have ready
- The full lease, with its annexes and extensions.
- The activity licence and, if they exist, the technical project and plans.
- The terrace permit, if there is one.
- Installation certificates: electricity, gas, smoke extraction, air conditioning.
- An inventory of the furniture and equipment that stays.
- Turnover for the last seasons, as far as it can be documented.
- Staff and employment contracts, if the team is staying on.
- Proof that everything is paid up: rent, utilities, community fees and municipal taxes.
With these papers on the table, a buyer decides in one or two visits. Without them, every doubt is another week and another argument for a lower price.
4. Advertising discreetly
If the business is open, there is no need for a sign on the façade that worries staff or customers. The listing still goes on the website and the portals, without the business name when that is wiser, and viewings are arranged outside service hours. Your figures are only shown to people with a genuine interest.
5. How long it takes
In Ibiza, buyers of a business usually want to open in spring, so autumn and winter are the busiest months for searching. A business listed in September or October has that whole window ahead of it; one listed in June competes with the season under way and with buyers who have already closed. From deposit to signing, with the landlord on board, a few weeks are usually enough.
6. Signing
- A reservation or deposit agreement (arras) with the price, the deadline and the conditions, including the landlord's consent.
- The transfer contract, with the signed inventory and the handover date.
- The assignment of the lease, or the new lease with the landlord.
- The change of licence holder at the town hall, and of the utilities.
- If the staff stay on, the transfer of their employment.
Taxation changes depending on how the deal is structured, assignment of the lease, sale of the assets or sale of the company, so have your tax adviser review it before accepting an offer.
7. How we do it
- We value your business against the deals we know in your area, not against asking prices.
- We review the lease and the licence before listing, so there are no surprises halfway.
- We list it on our website and on the portals, and show it to the buyers we already have searching.
- We screen enquiries and only bring you viewings with a project and the funding.
- We coordinate with the landlord and see the deal through to signing.
If you are thinking of selling, write to us from «Sell, rent out or transfer your property» and we will tell you what you can ask and how long it should take, with no commitment.
Note: general information only. Every deal has its own legal and tax particulars; consult a lawyer and a tax adviser before signing.
