asset acquisitions - Jackson Walker LLP

extended coverage for preclosing occurrences which could support these indemnity obligations forthe benefit of the buyer.E. Income TaxesIn most acquisitions, the income tax consequences to the buyer and to the seller and itsshareholders are among the most important factors in determining the structure of the transaction.The shareholders will prefer a structure that will generate the highest after-tax proceeds to them,while the buyer will want to seek ways to minimize taxes after the acquisition. The ability toreconcile these goals will depend largely on whether the seller is a C or an S corporation or is anentity taxed as a partnership.In a taxable asset purchase, the buyer’s tax basis in the purchased assets will be equal to thepurchase price (including assumed liabilities). An important advantage to the buyer of an assetpurchase is the ability to allocate the purchase price among the purchased assets on an asset-by-assetbasis to reflect their fair market value, often increasing the tax basis from that of the seller. This“step-up” in basis can allow the buyer greater depreciation and amortization deductions in the futureand less gain (or greater loss) on subsequent disposition of those assets. (In the case of an Scorporation, the same result may be achieved by a buyer purchasing stock and making a jointelection with the selling shareholders under Section 338(h)(10) of the Code to treat the purchase ofstock as a purchase of assets.)A significant disadvantage of an asset sale to a C corporation and its shareholders resultsfrom the repeal, as of January 1, 1987, of the so-called General Utilities doctrine. This doctrine hadexempted a C corporation from corporate-level taxation (other than recapture) on the sale of itsassets to a third party at a gain followed by a complete liquidation and the distribution of theproceeds to its shareholders. With the repeal of the General Utilities doctrine, a C corporation willgenerally recognize gain on a sale of assets to a third party or on the in-kind distribution of itsappreciated assets in a complete liquidation. Thus, if a buyer purchases assets and the sellerliquidates, the seller will recognize gain or loss on an asset-by-asset basis, which will be treated asordinary income or loss or capital gain or loss, depending on the character of each asset. However,corporations do not receive the benefit of a lower rate on long term capital gains, and the gains canbe taxed at a rate as high as 35%. Its shareholders then will be taxed as if they had sold their stockfor the proceeds received in liquidation (after reduction by the seller’s corporate tax liability). Gainor loss to the shareholders is measured by the difference between the fair market value of the cash orother assets received and the tax basis of the shareholders’ stock.Absent available net operating losses, the repeal of the General Utilities doctrine can makean asset transaction significantly less advantageous for the shareholders of a C corporation. A saleof stock would avoid this “double tax.” However, a buyer purchasing stock of a C corporation willobtain a stepped up basis only in the stock, which is not an asset it would be able to amortize ordepreciate for tax purposes, and the buyer generally would not want to succeed to the seller’spresumably low tax basis in the acquired assets.The tax treatment to the seller and its shareholders in an S corporation’s sale of assets willdepend upon the form of consideration, the relationship of the tax basis in the seller’s assets (the“inside basis”) to the tax basis of its shareholders in their stock (the “outside basis”), whether there is3148166v1- 8 -