The Client
The clients are co-owners of a well-known hospitality business, The Regency Café. With a team of employees and a loyal customer base, they aimed to sell the business and assign the lease before needing to serve a break notice in December 2025. Their goal was to complete the sale without compromising the lease or losing value.
The Challenge
The sale faced several challenges:
- Delays from the buyer in progressing the transaction.
- Risk of missing the lease break notice deadline.
- Uncertainty around the landlord’s agreement to reduce the notice period.
- Need to complete both the Asset Purchase Agreement and Licence to Assign simultaneously.
Following advice from our property litigation team, the clients chose not to vary their lease and took a calculated risk by not serving the break notice.
Our Approach
We provided multi-disciplinary legal support, including:
- Advice on landlord and tenant matters.
- Guidance on the business sale and employment implications.
- Strategic input from our property litigation team regarding lease break options.
- Coordination with all parties to ensure the Licence to Assign completed on or before the agreed completion date.
The Outcome
The sale of The Regency Café was successfully completed on 22 July 2025, along with the lease assignment. The clients avoided varying or terminating their lease and recovered the full purchase price.
