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The future of maple syrup production looks sweet. During a business transfer, financing is a crucial step which can often be accomplished via a liquidation.
Quebec proudly produces more than 100 million pounds of maple syrup each year, dominating the world production totalling 160 million pounds. This market has been evolving positively and the growth perspectives for coming years are very attractive. It’s no surprise that prosperous maple syrup businesses with state-of-the-art equipment are now highly coveted by buyers from here and abroad.
Solution for successful maple syrup business transfers
At the financing step, our experts have often used a well-planned liquidation as the solution for a successful maple syrup business transfer that takes both parties’ needs into consideration.
Sellers want to get the best price possible and deduct the maximum capital gain allowed, but they also want to retain control over the collection of their inventories held by the Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec.
It’s not to the sellers’ advantage for the company to transfer inventories to them before the sale because they would be receiving a large amount at one time that could be taxed by up to 43.84%! From a tax point of view, sellers want to increase the share sale price for the current year’s inventories, but also for those of previous years, which will not be paid by the Fédération des producteurs acéricoles for several years to come. The share sale price would then be higher, and the same would apply for the capital gain deduction applicable.
As for buyers, they don’t want to finance sellers by giving them an amount equivalent to the amounts due by the Fédération, when they themselves will not receive these amounts for a long time to come. They also don’t want to continue managing transfers to the seller for years as they receive them while handling variances and additional fees, not to mention the associated litigation risks.
Inventories are therefore left with the company when the seller sells shares, but they will be given to the seller as payment for the company’s share sale price after the shares are sold. The seller will then receive the instalments directly from the Fédération.
To maximize the seller’s net after-tax cash and simplify the transition, sellers are allowed to collect, tax-free, a portion of the sale price corresponding to their inventories, up to a maximum of $1,000,000, i.e. the maximum capital gains deduction permitted. The same process may apply to other assets used in the business that the seller would like to keep.
Simplified administrative changes
The employer file and tax files with the governments and the Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec belong to the company. All that’s needed is to simply change the manager’s name. Follow-ups are therefore easy since the files and identification numbers remain the same.
Every business and transfer situation is unique and requires tailored planning to obtain optimal results. We can structure a sales transaction that will enable both the seller and buyer to attain their objectives. Contact our team of experts who can help you plan the transfer of your maple syrup business.