Partner Buy-Out With Tax Debt

The borrower sought a loan against his residence to buy-out a business partner from one of his companies. However, several large, personal and commercial ATO debts were impeding his ability to obtain bank funding. 

Another challenge was that the company involved in the share sale was put forward to us as the primary borrower. This created a legal requirement for the company to obtain a “Whitewash” under the financial assistance provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). These provisions prevent a company from financially assisting someone acquiring shares in itself; designed to ensure that the company is not putting its shareholders ahead of creditors. 

A Whitewash is not necessarily a difficult process, but it can be time consuming. It requires a special resolution and shareholder approval under strict limitations, the drafting of Notice of the General meeting, approval by the Directors and lodging each stage with ASIC. If not done efficiently, this can add weeks to the settlement process.

To avoid the necessity of a lengthy Whitewash, Semper restructured the loan, releasing the company involved in the share sale from acting as Guarantor. Consequently, we were able to arrange drawdown as soon as the valuation was complete, settling in a matter of days, rather than weeks.

Loan proceeds were also applied to repay the various ATO debt arrears, allowing the borrower to refinance back to a bank at the end of the loan term.

For any tax debt settlement enquiries, call Semper.