What is a restaurant takeover?

If a listing says “takeover”, ask whether a restaurant space is changing hands or a trading restaurant is. You may be taking over a lease and a fitted kitchen, and little else. Another listing may use the word for a full going concern. The word alone settles nothing, so the work is in finding out what this particular listing means.

What a takeover often includes

Ask whether the offer is the right to the space, the lease itself, the hood, the walk-in cooler, the cooking line and the dining room fixtures. A buyer may avoid some of the build-out spending that a new location needs. It is a different purchase from buying a restaurant with its customers, because the sales history may not come with it.

What may stay behind

Ask whether the name, recipes, phone number, social accounts, supplier accounts and staff are part of the deal. A seller may keep all of these. If the seller keeps the brand, find out whether you can trade under a similar one. A buyer who expected a going concern can be surprised on this point.

What to confirm before you rely on the price

• A written list of every piece of equipment, with what is owned, leased or financed.
• Whether the landlord will agree to give you the lease, and on what terms.
• Which licences and permits the seller holds, and whether any can move to you.
• Whether any sales records exist, and whether the seller will share them.

How to compare it with a going concern

Compare the two: in a takeover you build the customer base yourself, and the purchase commitment may be different from a purchase of the whole business. A going concern carries more of what you are paying to inherit. This page on what turnkey means in a restaurant listing covers a related word that is just as loosely used.