## [Acquiring distressed companies’ business units, a guide](/pl/en_GB/new/acquiring-distressed-companies-business-units-guide) # Acquiring distressed companies’ business units, a guide España - 09 / 09 / 2019 Adrián Thery, Borja García-Alamán, Juan Verdugo and Juan María Jiménez - - [](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://www.garrigues.com/pl/en_GB/new/acquiring-distressed-companies-business-units-guide) - []() - []() Previous Next **We look at the differences and advantages of the Spanish and UK systems, pinpointing the more favorable elements of the Spanish system, designed to give greater security and certainty to the investor.** Over isolated sales of distressed companies’ assets, Spanish lawmakers preferred to provide an arrangement for sales of business units, meaning an organized set of resources able to preserve the greater value that any business has as a going concern, even if it is in distress. Transactions involving business units may be a very attractive opportunity for investors. The reforms introduced in the Insolvency Law between 2011 and 2015 (at the height of the economic downturn in Spain) led to an increase in these transactions and brought the Spanish business unit sale arrangement closer to the UK’s pre-pack sales, historically geared towards preserving value, protecting investors and keeping the business afloat. Although pre-pack sales in the UK are funneled through a smoother process –due to needing less judge and creditor participation–, business unit sales in Spain are blessed with greater advantages for investors, such as automatic assignment of critical agreements signed by the debtor, the general rule of the investor “not assuming” debts or the chance to carry out the transaction without the consent, or even with the objection of a portion of the secured creditors. Garrigues’ restructuring and insolvency department has many years’ experience in negotiating and concluding this type of transactions. In their last article our lawyers explained the differences and similarities between transfers of business units in Spain and the UK, which share a common goal: maximize creditors’ recovery and at the same time allow viable business units to keep ongoing (even if the legal entity that previously owned the business is liquidated and disappears). *We look in depth at all these issues in an article published in GRR* [*Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review 2019*](https://globalrestructuringreview.com/edition/1001346/europe-middle-east-and-africa-restructuring-review-2019)*, covering the business restructuring and insolvency landscape, which can be read* [*here*](https://globalrestructuringreview.com/benchmarking/europe-middle-east-and-africa-restructuring-review-2019/1194414/spanish-sales-of-business-units-and-uk-pre-pack-sales-compared)*. It was published in June 2019.* [Restructuring & Insolvency](/pl/en_GB/tags/restructuring-insolvency), [United Kingdom](/pl/en_GB/tags/united-kingdom), [Spain](/pl/en_GB/tags/spain) ### Contacts ![Adrián Thery Martí - Garrigues](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/team/photo/Adrian_Thery_Marti_en_20240619.jpg?itok=jcbiBc9t) [Adrián Thery](/pl/en_GB/team/adrian-thery-marti) ![](/themes/custom/garriguestheme/img/iconos/email-contacto.svg)[Contact]() - +34 91 514 52 00 [Madrid](https://www.garrigues.com/pl/en_GB/office/madrid) ![Foto del socio](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/team/photo/Borja_Garcia-Alaman_de_la_Calle_en_20251105.jpg?itok=m4Nee5Rk) [Borja García-Alamán](/pl/en_GB/team/borja-garcia-alaman-calle) ![](/themes/custom/garriguestheme/img/iconos/email-contacto.svg)[Contact]() - +34 91 514 52 00 [Madrid](https://www.garrigues.com/pl/en_GB/office/madrid) ![](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/team/photo/10004186.jpg?itok=BVwekzFG) [Juan María Jiménez](/pl/en_GB/team/juan-maria-jimenez-moreno) ![](/themes/custom/garriguestheme/img/iconos/email-contacto.svg)[Contact]() - +34 91 514 52 00 [Madrid](https://www.garrigues.com/pl/en_GB/office/madrid) [Find more professionals](../team) ### Related services - [Restructuring and Insolvency ](/pl/en_GB/services/restructuring-and-insolvency) - ## Find a publication - [Administrative and Constitutional Law](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1422) - [Agribusiness and Food](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1417) - [Automotive](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1419) - [Banking and Finance](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1443) - [Corporate and M&A](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1441) - [Criminal Law and Internal Investigations](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1434) - [Data Economy, Privacy and Cybersecurity](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A10913) - [Dispute Resolution: Litigation and Arbitration](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1412) - [Energy](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A10916) - [EU and Antitrust Law](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1416) - [Family Business](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1413) - [Fashion Law](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1435) - [Financial Regulation](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A10915) - [Human Capital Services](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1431) - [Infrastructure](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A10914) - [Insurance](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1438) - [Intellectual Property](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1421) - [Labor and Employment](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1424) - [Life Sciences and Healthcare](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1429) - [Media and Entertainment](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1433) - [Planning, Zoning and Environment](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1444) - [Private Equity](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1439) - [Real Estate](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A10927) - [Restructuring and Insolvency](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1420) - [Securities Markets](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1442) - [Sports](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1430) - [Startups & Open innovation](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1426) - [Sustainability](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A10921) - [Tax](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1425) - [Technology, Communications and Digital](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1436) - [Tourism and Hotels](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1432) - [Transport, Logistics and Shipping](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=service%3A1428) Facet Services detail - [Publications](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=publication_type%3A794) - [Newsletters](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=publication_type%3A107) - [Garrigues collection](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=publication_type%3A101) - [Laws: amendments at a glance](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=publication_type%3A104) - [News](/pl/en_GB/markdownify/node/7412?f%5B0%5D=publication_type%3A105) Facet Publication type detail Min Max ## News search engine