Why is the Landlord’s approval so important to the sale of my business?
To sell any business that occupies a space, the Landlord must assign the current lease to (or sign a new lease with) the Buyer. If the Landlord will not do so, the Buyer cannot operate there and will be unable purchase the business. Landlords cannot unreasonably deny an assignment, but they can control who uses their space by insisting on a “comparable” Buyer, with equivalent experience and financial resources as the Seller. They can also deny Buyers with poor credit scores or insufficient net worth, out of concern they may not pay the rent. Also remember that Landlords set the lease terms - a big change in terms during assignment can (positively or negatively) impact the businesses's expenses. Every combination of lease, Landlord, and Buyer are different. Since lease assignments are a contingency of completing a purchase, Landlords have influence over each business sale. Sellers who bring good relationships with their Landlords to the sales process have a big advantage!