Business Sale Agreement (Going Concern) — Chile

Business Sale Agreement (Going Concern) in Chile (Contrato de Compraventa de Empresa o Establecimiento Comercial) is the legal instrument through which the owner of a comercial business (establecimiento de comercio) transfers the enterprise as a going concern — including its assets, client base, commercial goodwill (fondo de comercio), intellectual property, contracts, and related obligations — to a buyer under Código de Comercio Article 160 and Código Civil Article 1793.

Article 160 of the Código de Comercio establishes that the sale of a commercial establishment (venta del establecimiento de comercio) is governed by the rules of mercantile purchase and sale (compraventa mercantil), supplemented by the general rules of Código Civil Article 1793 on purchase and sale contracts (contratos de compraventa). The sold establishment includes all assets that constitute the commercial enterprise as a functioning economic unit: commercial name (nombre comercial), brand and trademarks (marcas y signos distintivos) registered with the Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial (INAPI) under Ley N° 19.039 on Industrial Property; commercial goodwill (fondo de comercio) — the established customer relationships, supplier networks, and reputation that give the business value beyond its individual assets; inventory (inventario de existencias y mercaderías); fixed assets (activos fijos) — furniture, equipment, machinery, and computer systems; contracts (contratos vigentes) — customer agreements, supplier contracts, lease agreements, and service contracts; licenses and permits (licencias y permisos municipales) — including the patente comercial (business license) issued by the relevant Municipalidad under Ley N° 3.063 and Decreto Ley N° 3.063; intellectual property rights (derechos de propiedad intelectual) registered with INAPI; and any real estate (bienes raíces) owned by the business.

The Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) treats the sale of a business as a going concern (venta de establecimiento de comercio) differently from a sale of individual assets or a transfer of company shares (acciones o cuotas). Under Código Tributario Article 69 and SII Resolución Exenta N° 271 of 2019, the seller must notify the SII of the cessation or transfer of the business giro (actividad económica) and obtain a certificado de deudas tributarias (tax clearance certificate) confirming there are no outstanding tax obligations that would transfer to the buyer. The buyer must register the change of giro (cambio de giro) with the SII and obtain a new RUT if acquiring in a personal capacity, or use the existing company RUT if acquiring through a corporate entity.

The transfer of employees (trabajadores) in a going concern sale is governed by Código del Trabajo Article 4, which establishes the principle of empresa (business unit continuity): when ownership of a commercial enterprise changes hands, all employment contracts remain in force and the new owner assumes all employment obligations as if the employer had not changed. This mandatory continuity prevents buyers and sellers from using the business sale to terminate employment contracts and avoid severance obligations. The Dirección del Trabajo (DT) enforces Article 4 continuity rigorously, and the Juzgado de Letras del Trabajo adjudicates disputes about whether a particular transaction constitutes a change of enterprise owner under Article 4.

For businesses including real estate assets (bienes raíces), the transfer of those assets requires a separate escritura pública before a Notario Público and inscription at the Registro de Propiedad of the Conservador de Bienes Raíces (CBR) under Código Civil Article 686 and the Ley sobre Registro Conservatorio de Bienes Raíces. The Impuesto de Timbres y Estampillas (stamp duty tax) under Decreto Ley N° 3.475 and the SII's valuation of the transferred real estate for property tax (contribuciones) purposes under the Ley sobre Impuesto Territorial (Decreto Ley N° 828) are relevant tax considerations for real estate-inclusive business sales.

A Business Sale Agreement is required in Chile whenever an entrepreneur, business owner, or corporate entity intends to sell a commercial enterprise as a going concern — including all or substantially all of the assets and operations that constitute the functioning business.

Small and medium enterprise (PYME) owners retiring from business use the contrato de compraventa de empresa to transfer their retail, restaurant, service, or manufacturing businesses to individual buyers or corporate acquirers. The going concern sale preserves the business's value — customer relationships, brand recognition, supplier agreements, and trained staff — which a pure asset sale would not fully capture. Buyers of small businesses (microempresas and pequeñas empresas under Ley N° 20.416 on MIPYME, administered by CORFO and the Ministerio de Economía) typically conduct due diligence (auditoría legal y contable) reviewing: SII Rol de Contribuyentes records, Conservador de Bienes Raíces title searches, Registro Civil encumbrance searches, Dirección del Trabajo compliance records, and Municipalidad patente comercial status.

Franchisors and franchise operators use business sale agreements when transferring established franchise units — McDonald's, Falabella, Ripley, Paris, Easy, or Chilean franchise brands — between franchise operators (franquiciados), subject to the franchisor's prior written consent and right of first refusal under the franchise agreement. The sale of a franchise unit includes transfer of the franchise territory rights, trained staff, equipment, and leasehold interest, all governed by the master franchise agreement and Chilean commercial law.

Corporate buyers (adquirentes corporativos) purchasing businesses through an asset acquisition (compra de activos) rather than a share acquisition (compra de acciones o cuotas) use the contrato de compraventa de empresa to define the specific assets purchased (activos incluidos) and exclude liabilities (pasivos excluidos) that the buyer does not wish to assume — a key structuring advantage over share acquisitions where all company liabilities transfer automatically. This structure is common in distressed business acquisitions where the buyer wishes to acquire the business operations but not the target company's pre-existing debt obligations, pending litigation, or undisclosed tax liabilities.

Real estate developers acquiring commercial properties with operating businesses — hotels, shopping centres, office complexes — use going concern business sale agreements to transfer the operating entity's contracts, licences, staff, and goodwill alongside the real estate, ensuring continuity of operations and tenancy agreements during the ownership transition.

A valid Business Sale Agreement (Going Concern) in Chile under Código de Comercio Article 160 and Código Civil Article 1793 must contain the following essential elements to effect a legally binding, tax-compliant, and commercially complete transfer of the business enterprise:

Identification of the Parties (Individualización de las Partes): Full identification of the seller (vendedor) — individual or company — including name, RUT (Rol Único Tributario), address, and capacity. For corporate sellers, identification of the authorized legal representative (representante legal) with authority to execute the sale under the company's bylaws (estatutos) and relevant board or shareholder approval. The buyer (comprador) requires the same identification plus confirmation of funding source for anti-money laundering (AML) compliance under Ley N° 19.913 on the Unidad de Análisis Financiero (UAF) and Ley N° 20.393 on criminal liability of legal entities.

Description of the Business (Descripción del Establecimiento): Detailed description of the commercial establishment being sold — trading name (nombre de fantasía), SII giro (business activity code), registered address, Municipalidad patente comercial number and expiry, and the nature of the business operations. Reference to the seller's SII Iniciación de Actividades (activity registration) number and RUT.

Assets Included in the Sale (Activos Incluidos en la Venta): A comprehensive schedule (Anexo de Activos) listing all assets transferred as part of the going concern — inventory (inventario valorado a la fecha de la venta), fixed assets (activos fijos con números de serie e identificación), intellectual property (marcas registradas en INAPI, dominios web, software), contracts (listado de contratos vigentes con clientes y proveedores), leases (contratos de arrendamiento de los locales comerciales), licences (licencias de software y autorizaciones regulatorias), and real estate (bienes raíces con Rol de Avalúo del SII and CBR inscription details if owned by the business).

Assets Excluded from the Sale (Activos Excluidos): Explicit listing of any assets not included — for example, personal assets of the owner, specific bank accounts, loans to related parties, or specific intellectual property retained by the seller. Clear identification of excluded assets prevents post-closing disputes about the scope of the transfer.

Purchase Price and Payment Terms (Precio de Venta y Condiciones de Pago): The agreed total purchase price (precio total de venta) and payment structure — lump sum (pago al contado), installment payments (pago en cuotas con calendario específico), earn-out provisions (pagos variables sujetos a resultados futuros), deferred consideration (precio diferido), or a combination. The price allocation between different asset categories — tangible assets, goodwill, IP, and real estate — is critical for SII tax treatment, as different allocation to goodwill (fondo de comercio) versus fixed assets (activos fijos) has different Impuesto de Primera Categoría implications under LIR Article 17 N° 8.

Liabilities and Transition (Pasivos y Transición): Explicit provisions on which liabilities (pasivos) the buyer assumes and which are retained by the seller. Employment obligations (obligaciones laborales) under Código del Trabajo Article 4 transfer automatically with the business — the buyer cannot contractually exclude these. Tax liabilities (pasivos tributarios) of the business for periods before the transfer date remain with the seller, subject to the SII's right to pursue the buyer for taxes accrued in the two-year period preceding the sale under Código Tributario Article 71 (responsabilidad subsidiaria del comprador). The SII certificado de deudas tributarias obtained before closing is critical to limit this buyer exposure.

SII Tax Notifications (Notificaciones al SII): The seller's obligation to notify the SII of the cessation or transfer of the giro under Código Tributario Article 69 and the buyer's obligation to register the new giro. Provisions for the allocation of IVA (Impuesto al Valor Agregado — Decreto Ley N° 825) obligations for inventory transfers — in Chile, the sale of inventory as part of a going concern may be exempt from IVA under SII Circular N° 33 of 1990 if the sale constitutes a transfer of a functioning economic unit (unidad económica funcionante), a classification that requires careful structuring with SII guidance.

Employee Continuity (Continuidad Laboral): Under Código del Trabajo Article 4, all employment contracts transfer automatically to the buyer at closing. The agreement should: list all current employees with their contract type, start date, and current salary; confirm the seller's payment of all outstanding wages, AFP cotizaciones previsionales, FONASA or Isapre cotizaciones, and other employment obligations up to the transfer date; and establish a mechanism for the seller to indemnify the buyer for any pre-closing employment claims filed by employees.

Conditions Precedent (Condiciones Suspensivas): Conditions that must be satisfied before the sale closes — such as obtaining third-party consents to assignment of key contracts, Municipalidad patente comercial transfer approval, franchisor consent, INAPI brand assignment registration, and landlord consent to lease assignment under Ley N° 18.101 on residential leases or the Código Civil for commercial leases.

Representations and Warranties (Declaraciones y Garantías): Seller's representations about the business — financial statements (estados financieros) accurately reflect the business's financial position; there are no undisclosed liabilities (pasivos ocultos); intellectual property is owned free of liens; all regulatory permits are valid and in good standing; and there are no pending litigation or regulatory investigations. Post-closing indemnity obligations for breach of representations.

Forms-legal.com provides this Business Sale Agreement Chile template as a reference for buyers and sellers of going concern businesses. Complex transactions involving significant goodwill values, real estate, regulated activities, or large employee workforces require review by an abogado specializing in fusiones y adquisiciones (M&A) and a contador auditor for SII compliance, IVA structuring, and purchase price allocation. Los usuarios de forms-legal.com pueden descargar este documento de forma gratuita en formato PDF o DOCX, completar los campos del formulario guiado y obtener un documento listo para firma.