Essential guide to business transactions Skip to main content
ID020_BUS

Essential guide to business transactions

JURISDICTION - ALL
From $599.00
$599.00

Bundle Overview

To help your clients navigate Australia’s increasingly complex business landscape, you need to provide practical advice and actionable insights. 

Bolster your knowledge and skills across business transactions. And empower your clients to manage risk and achieve their commercial objectives. 

This course bundle will build your capabilities across four essential – and practical – modules. You’ll learn:

  • The essentials of selling and buying business assets 
  • Best practices for conducting due diligence
  • Drafting tips, risks and the purpose of shareholder agreements 
  • How to choose and advise on business structures 

You’ll cover concepts like due diligence, privacy, pre-purchase requirements, taxation, employee transition, intellectual property and more.

You may be an early-career lawyer wanting to build foundational knowledge. Or perhaps you’re a senior lawyer looking to test and sharpen your expertise. 

Either way, you’ll walk away with practical skills to help your clients navigate the commercial landscape – and strengthen their transactions.

Course Overview

Acquiring a business by purchasing the entity that owns the business assets (e.g. by purchasing all the shares in the entity) means you acquire both the entity's assets and liabilities. This can create complications for both the vendor and purchaser.

Alternatively, you can purchase a business by way of the sale and purchase of the assets of that business.

Help clients navigate this process by learning the ins and outs of buying and selling business assets.

At the end of this course, you’ll be able to: 

  • Advise a client on the sale and purchase of business assets, including potential concerns for both vendor and purchaser 
  • Explain the legal obligations of a lawyer acting on behalf of a vendor or purchaser in a business transaction 
  • Carry out the steps for the sale and purchase of business assets 
  • Draft and review the documents required to effect the legal transfer of business assets (including the contract, transfer and leasing documents)

Course Structure

  • Getting started 
  • Initial considerations and business finance 
  • The agreement 
  • Due diligence and vendor’s warranties 
  • Exchange of contracts and pre-settlement 
  • Settlement and post-settlement

Course Overview

Due diligence is the process of analysing a prospective business decision by obtaining and reviewing relevant legal, financial and other information. It’s most often used for the purchase of a business or company. 

During the due diligence process a prospective purchaser will make a series of enquiries to:

  • identify potential liabilities and risks
  • discover issues which need to be addressed prior to completion, and
  • assess whether to proceed with the purchase, and at what price.

In this course you’ll learn how to put the subject matter of sales ‘under the microscope’ for your clients, before they commit.

At the end of this course, you’ll be able to: 

  • Explain the purpose of due diligence 
  • Identify the main steps in the due diligence process 
  • Recognise key issues and mistakes to avoid in the due diligence process 
  • Carry out due diligence on behalf of a client and advise the client on your findings

Course Structure

  • Getting started 
  • Characterising the transaction 
  • Establishing the terms of reference 
  • Assembling the due diligence team 
  • Conducting searches and reviewing documents 
  • Reporting back to your client

Course Overview

A shareholder agreement is a written agreement between shareholders or partners of a business and it outlines the obligations and responsibilities of the business owners. It’s intended to ensure that shareholders are treated fairly and their rights are protected.

A shareholder agreement covers the funding, structure, management and direction of a business and it’s designed to deal with any issues that might arise during the life of a business.

Because every business is different, the process of developing each agreement needs to be tailored to meet the needs of all relevant partners/shareholders and their relevant advisors. 

At the end of this course, you’ll be able to: 

  • Distinguish between the different classes of shares 
  • Summarise the purpose of shareholder agreements 
  • Consider how to apportion risk among shareholders 
  • Identify drafting issues with a shareholder agreement warranty clause 

Course Structure

  • Shares and share dealings 
  • The purpose of shareholder agreements 
  • Key clauses in shareholder agreements 
  • Shareholder agreements and drafting tips

Course Overview

Identifying your client’s objectives is critical when advising on business structures, because every structure has different legal and/or taxation consequences associated with it. 

This course looks at the most commonly available entities used when structuring a business and looks at some of the advantages and disadvantages of each of those entities. 

At the end of this course, you’ll be able to: 

  • Summarise the key considerations when advising a client on a business structure appropriate to their business 
  • Identify characteristics key to common business structures 
  • Advise the client on a preferred business structure 
  • Ascertain the most appropriate business structure 

You’ll gain the knowledge you need to give sound advice to clients looking to structure their businesses.

Course Structure

  • Business structures explained 
  • Sole trader and partnership structures 
  • Companies and multiple entities 
  • Trust structures

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FAQs

This bundle will benefit:

  • Lawyers wanting to build practical foundational knowledge and skills
  • Mid-career lawyers considering a move into transactional work or who do occasional work in this area
  • Senior lawyers looking to confirm and test their knowledge

The course contains content that falls within the mandatory CPD categories of:

  • Professional skills
  • Substantive law

With our online on-demand interactive courses, you can learn when and where it suits you. We’ve designed each course to provide both education and enjoyment.

Each course offers a mix of engaging exercises, where you’ll gain access to:

  • Interactive activities to challenge your understanding and put your knowledge to the test. You’ll also enjoy engaging exercises, such as flip cards, quizzes and drafting activities.
  • Clearly identified outcomes so you know precisely what you’ll learn – and the skills you’ll gain. You’ll also be able to track your development and focus on key improvement areas.
  • Extended course access so you can reference the material as you need – or revisit it should life get in the way.
  • Feedback and template answers so you can refine your skills, grow your knowledge and gain fresh insights.

Each on-demand bundle contains four in-depth learning resources so you can boost your essential knowledge and skills across a practice area – more affordably.

With a bundle, you’ll earn eight CPD points, while saving 40% on the single courses.

Go in-depth as you comprehensively explore a specific practice area. Learn interactively across engaging formats like step-by-step guides, practice guides and skill series. And gain helpful learning resources you can reference when you encounter similar situations in practice.

Access each module on the College’s learning portal. When you buy a single, you’ll have 24/7 unlimited access for 12-months from the date of purchase.

Does this educational activity extend your knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to your practice needs or professional development?

If so, and you’re not a WA practitioner, you should claim 1 unit for each hour of participation, not including breaks. 

Please check your local CPD rules for any caps on activity types, such as the private study of non-interactive audio/visual materials. You are responsible for keeping your own CPD records and complying with your local CPD rules.

No. Western Australian practitioners who complete our on-demand courses are currently unable to claim CPD points.

However, you may earn CPD points by attending select live CPD events or by completing select CPD Interactive modules.

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