Has anyone gone against a lawyer recommending them NOT to buy a business?
We had just gotten our offer approved to acquire a small business that had been around for 30 years in the community. The owners and my husband and I hit it off. We loved the business concept and it aligned with our careers. Everything seemed to click. They accepted our offer with very little push back. We were ecstatic that after a year of looking this was it. Then we met with the lawyer yesterday to go over everything to get started on due diligence- turns out that because they have a nonprofit that’s pretty intertwined with the business and it’s a sensitive field, the lawyer straight up told us that in 25 years he has never had to “straight up tell someone not to buy a business” but he was doing it now. That was pretty sobering to hear.
I’m heartbroken. I think I had really set my mind on this and being able to leave my 9-5.
Should we get a second opinion or let it go?
Update: the broker (their son) texted us to see where we were at with the deal. We told him we got some legal advice that refused to represent us given the high risk of the deal with how the nonprofit is set up. We told him we would get another opinion (at this point we weren’t ready to close the door just yet) He told us he would get more documentation. We just got this email from him with the AI piece left up top 🙄 welp, folks. That answers that.
Copying just the first part with no names included
Absolutely. The current version is accurate, but it reads very formal and legal. Clarification Regarding Company and Nonprofit.docx I’d make it feel like [owner names] are speaking directly to [potential buyer names] , emphasizing that they genuinely want them to succeed while still keeping the nonprofit distinction clear.
Dear [potential buyer names]
We wanted to personally clarify the relationship between , and more importantly, make sure you both understand our intentions as we move forward together.