Buying a Ready-Made LLC Online: Quick Business Without the Wait

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Do you have a good business idea ready? By buying a ready-made LLC, you can start doing business almost immediately, without waiting for a new company to be established. Find out how buying an existing company online works, what advantages an electronic signature brings, and what to watch out for so as to avoid the risks.

What Is a Ready-Made LLC?

A ready-made LLC is a limited liability company that already exists and has a certain publicly documented and known business history behind it. It can also be a company that was established but through which no business activity was carried out. It has an assigned identification number (IČO), a registered name, registered office and other statutory data in the Commercial Register of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter the “Commercial Register”) and meets all the legislative conditions for operating a business.

Buying a ready-made LLC is carried out by means of a transfer of the ownership interest using the procedure prescribed by law. The institution of the transfer of an ownership interest is among the most frequent changes carried out in limited liability companies. It is a quick and efficient way to end a business, leave a business or start a new one.

The Advantages of Buying a Ready-Made LLC

The main reason for buying an existing company is the saving of time and costs. In some cases, an advantage for entrepreneurs is an already established business and the company’s history, which they can seamlessly build on, and possibly also its tax setup.

The main advantages of buying a ready-made LLC include the following:

• A quick start to your business: the transfer of the ownership interest is carried out by means of a written agreement between the transferor and the transferee and by a change in the founding documents of the LLC in question, which are attached to the proposal for registering the transfer of the ownership interest in the Commercial Register.
• Lower costs for the transfer of an ownership interest compared with establishing a new LLC: the court fee for the transfer of an ownership interest and the registration of this change in the Commercial Register is EUR 50. When establishing a new limited liability company, you pay a court fee of EUR 220 for registering the new company in the Commercial Register.
• The company’s business history: in some cases, entrepreneurs need a company that is already a payer of value added tax (VAT) or that already has another documented business history on which they can further build, expand or supplement.

Buying a Ready-Made LLC Online With an Electronic Signature

Currently, a number of processes in state administration and the judiciary are gradually being digitized, and proof of this emerging trend is the fact that today you can carry out the purchase of a ready-made LLC online as well, without the need to visit any office. However, you will need a qualified electronic signature and a qualified time stamp for this.

TIP:

You can conveniently obtain a qualified electronic signature and a qualified time stamp via the NFQES digital platform.

A qualified electronic signature (QES) and a time stamp allow you to sign documents electronically, even remotely. You thus save yourself a visit to the registry office or a notary for the official certification of signatures on the founding documents and on the annexes that you attach to the proposal for registering the transfer of the ownership interest in the Commercial Register.

How Does Buying a Ready-Made LLC Work, Step by Step?

1. Choosing an existing limited liability company: from among existing companies, you choose the one that best suits you – for example, by its business history, length of existence and whether it is a VAT payer.

TIP:

You can carry out the company name, registered office, business activities, a change of executive director and other company data according to your need and wish, directly together with the transfer of the ownership interest.

2. Preparing the documents and annexes: depending on what various changes you carry out together with the transfer of the ownership interest in the LLC, it is also necessary to prepare the relevant statutory annexes. The transfer of the ownership interest is carried out by means of a written agreement. If you are also changing other data, such as the company name, registered office, business activities, registered capital or the company’s bodies, then it is also necessary to prepare and update these founding documents in the manner prescribed by law.

TIP:

Given the demands of this step, seek out the services of the relevant expert for the transfer of the ownership interest. Even in this case, however, you can carry out the purchase of a ready-made LLC entirely online if you are the holder of a qualified electronic signature and a qualified electronic seal.

3. Registering the changes in the Commercial Register with a qualified electronic signature: finally, you submit the proposal for registering the transfer of the ownership interest in the Commercial Register, along with any other changes in the LLC, together with the legally prescribed written annexes. The proposal itself and all annexes must be signed with a qualified electronic signature. The signature on the annexes must also be provided with a qualified time stamp.

TIP:

Today you can make a submission to the Commercial Register only electronically, via the relevant form on the slovensko.sk web portal, or you can authorize another expert to do so. In this case too, a qualified electronic signature allows you to sign the power of attorney and thus to carry out the entire process of buying a ready-made LLC online.

What to Watch Out for When Buying a Ready-Made LLC?

Buying an existing company can also bring with it several security risks. Therefore, you should first find out as much data and information about the given company as possible.

Find out and check whether the limited liability company you have chosen has any debts, and if it does, whether you are willing to take them on. If not, you can agree that the current owner will pay them off. With such an agreement, we recommend that the owner provide you with written confirmation of the debts paid off, or that the company has no debts.

Notice:

By transferring the ownership interest, you take on and guarantee the company’s debts and liabilities existing at the time of the transfer, although in some cases the original owner is also responsible. Therefore, it is good to have written confirmation that the company has no debts and other liabilities, or that it has them and the original owner continues to guarantee them in full. Under the law, a new partner guarantees the liabilities of the acquired company up to the amount of their unpaid contribution registered in the Commercial Register. If you have paid up the contribution in full, then you do not personally guarantee the company’s liabilities; instead, the company guarantees them with all its assets.

Buying a ready-made LLC with an electronic signature is a modern and efficient way to quickly start a business activity without unnecessary delays. However, this holds especially in cases where you know without doubt that the company in question has no debts and no other liabilities.