Liquidation

Two meanings of the term

Liquidation is used in two contexts that should be kept apart. In company law, liquidation is the formal procedure for winding up a company: the firm is dissolved, a liquidator appointed, receivables collected, debts paid, the remaining assets distributed and the company finally deleted from the commercial register (Handelsregister).

In a clearance and resale context, liquidation means the practical part: whatever is physically present in the business is valued, sold or otherwise realised, and the premises are cleared. We handle that second part and work together with the liquidator or the fiduciary (Treuhänder).

Valuation before realisation

It starts with an inventory. What is there, in what condition, with what realistic market value? For machines, the year of manufacture, operating hours, maintenance history and marketability count. For vehicles, the condition and the remaining validity of the roadworthiness inspection. For stock, its saleability.

This valuation matters to the client as well, because they have to account for it to creditors, heirs or shareholders. We therefore document in a traceable way what was sold and at what price.

Routes to realisation

Depending on the asset, different channels come into question: direct sale to buyers in the same industry, industrial auctions, clearance-stock dealers, online marketplaces or sale to resellers. For the client, what usually counts is the combination of proceeds achieved and speed — an auction often brings more, but takes longer.