Hello!

We are currently buying a web hosting company, and we wanted to know which contracts need to be signed .etc, if you have ever been through this process what have you signed?

Do you have a lawyer for this purchase?

Use a lawyer for sure, and make sure they are experienced in the appropriate jurisdiction. As an example, when my company bought a company based in Missouri, I was glad I used a lawyer based there. It turns out in Missouri an spouse or ex-spouse can have a claim on the assets, so a clause had to be added to free this claim.

That's just an example which may not apply in your case, but let me strongly suggest to use an experienced lawyer. It will only take a few hours of their time if it's a simple transaction, but it's worth it. In terms of documents, you may have a Letter of Intent, and you'll definitely have a Purchase Agreement, Asset List, and Bill of Sale, at least under US law.

Justin

i think buying old firms are not a good idea, because people sell there company when they fall in loss, so better to open new companies and run them, btw i have some domains what was running for web hosting companies and they were having some clients but now they are closed and i am parking that domains, all was asian company's , if you need let me know, thanks.

i think buying old firms are not a good idea, because people sell there company when they fall in loss, so better to open new companies and run them

I disagree with you, this is not always the case. There are some instances where people try this but for the most part, hosts are sold because they growing at a pace that cannot be properly maintained or the current owner no longer has the time to commit to a host. A lot of value can be gained from buying an established home; it is not as easy as you think to just start your own host.

Treat this like any acquisition....just because this is the Web hosting industry does not mean things work any differently. Business is business, and you still need all of the same protections and checks as in any other field.

The problem is, this is a small purchase (36 clients) and I believe hiring a lawyer would be more expensive than the transaction (below $1,000).

Well then, what do you have in place so far? You could probably get a sufficient agreement from someplace like http://www.allbusiness.com if you do not have anything already.

Normally if its not a "reseller" company your buying, you need to have a lawyer involved to cover the contract process. yes, the company may be in loss but customers can still be migrated over.

The problem is, this is a small purchase (36 clients) and I believe hiring a lawyer would be more expensive than the transaction (below $1,000).

Just a general "this is what you're giving me for xxxx amount of dollars" signed and dated. On deals of that nature, I wouldn't hire an attorney either...but I realize that by doing it myself, there's a certain risk involved and I accept that risk. Without an attorney, be prepared to walk away from any loss.

--Tina