Vendor Story April

Now this was a very interesting case that we had to deal with.  We were first contacted by this vendor in February 2025.  She had fallen out with her fellow partners and they were not being helpful or co-operative with regards the sale of her tranche of fees.

It took some time before the vendor was able to agree with her partners what fees were hers and what fees belonged to the practice.  They did not want to buy her fees from her but were dragging their feet and did not agree to her finding a buyer for her clients.   There was stale mate for quite a period of time.

Meanwhile the vendor contacted us to understand the process of selling fees and how long it would take to sell a £75k tranche of fees.  I replied that it depended on the circumstances and was there anything I needed to know about her situation and why she wanted to sell so quickly.  She explained to me the dire situation she was in regarding the lack of communication with her other partners and how they were doing everything to delay matters.

Well, and here is the kicker, it turned out that she had a serious medical condition.  She had blood clots in her lungs, that could move at any time to another part of her body causing a potential catastrophic stroke and immediate death.  She was in the process of managing appointments with the local hospital to have an operation whereby they would drain her body of blood, remove the clots and give her a new lease of life.  No, I don’t know how the medical fraternity does these kind of operations – it is science fiction to me.

So, we are faced with a vendor with a very serious medical condition, needing to find a home for her clients because she could die any day.  To make matters worse, yes there is another strand to this story, the remaining partners had not agreed to allow her to sell her fees in the first place.  They kept saying they were getting legal advice on the partnership agreement, which was plainly written and unambiguous that she could sell her fees if she wanted to retire.  The problem came with which were her fees and which were the property of the practice.

When speaking with us she was in tears.  Her two daughters were worried sick, taking her to all medical appointments where she was told under no circumstances should she be put under any pressure or stress because that was not helping the situation.  No comment needed….

It was imperative that we found a buyer and found one straight away.  We did a quick search of the area, found a buyer that had bought from us before, put the scenario to him and he said he would be interested in taking on the fees, had the resources to do the work, had the funds to pay for the fees and could work to a very tight time scale. He was aware that she did not have the legal authority to sell the fees without permission from her partners.

In the meantime, the buyer did the due diligence, got the contract agreed and was ready to go on the back of confirmation of permission granted.   Dates for the surgery were being discussed with her medical advisors and unbeknown to the remaining partners we were busy working behind the scenes.

As soon as permission was given, the buyer was informed, the contract was signed and the deal went through without a hitch.  From instruction to completion was a month.  Things happened very quickly, there was little leeway.

Needless to say everyone involved in the deal was very relieved it all went through.  We had a fantastic testimonial from the vendor thanking us for all our hard work.  We were so pleased to have been able to make things happen quickly for this vendor.