How a company is broken up and sold off is the most important decision that liquidators have to make. Whether the company is marketed as a complete package in the hopes that it will be acquired in its entirety, or broken off into pieces and sold off to various buyers, can make the difference between needing to file for relief under U.S. bankruptcy law or going out clean. It's easier to sell if there is something there. Once separated from skilled people and intellectual property, tangibles are usually worth less than one might think. Real estate, however, is a different matter, he says.
Leases can fetch a chunk of change on the open market.
Dot-com fire sales don't differ much from those of the old economy. In attempting to sell its customer database, the company raised the eyebrows of the Federal Trade Commission and some privacy groups. Though it has now been given the legal go-ahead, the company has yet to find a buyer for the database and could face further legal hurdles should one emerge. This is one gray area liquidating dot-coms will have to keep an eye on.