Selling your business? – understand the PPSR

Are you thinking of selling your business? It will be a typical requirement that all assets you are selling are provided to the buyer free of encumbrances.  This means that where a third party (such as a lender or supplier) has some sort of interest in the assets, that interest must be discharged prior to sale.  

But how do you find out what interests might exist in relation to your assets?

The Personal Property Securities Register or PPSR keeps a record of all claims and charges placed over your assets. The PPSR is basically an online noticeboard that lists when someone has a security interest over certain personal property, which includes things like cars, company assets, used goods and intellectual property (but not land or fixtures).

It is never too soon for a business owner to conduct searches of the PPSR to check what security interests have been registered over his or her business.  You may be surprised by what you find, as in many industries it is standard practice for suppliers who provide credit to secure their interest by registering an interest on the PPSR.

There are many types of searches you can do on the PPSR, and it is important to ensure the proper searches are done.  Once you have identified the security interests registered against your assets, you can take steps to have those interests discharged.  Contact us for more information:

Paul Gray
Principal
T: 03 5225 5231
E: pgray@ha.legal

Alasdair Woodford
Senior Associate
T: 03 5225 5217
E: awoodford@ha.legal