Q: Buying a small business in Abu Dhabi. What are the legal requirements? What are the items on a checklist that one should consider before investing? What are the pitfalls of buying an existing business?

Q: I purchased a commercial shop and seller left Dubai immediately after that. There's loan with the bank in name of shop. 1. Fed Law No.18 of 1993 CL 47(1) says that the person upon whom the title to the business premises has devolved shall remain liable for the debts, if the creditors of such debts submit a statement thereof within the said prescribed period and........ 2. Clause 47 (3) says: Furthermore, the disposing party shall remain liable for the debts related to the business premises and which have arisen prior to the notification of the disposal unless he is discharged therefrom by the creditors. What is the difference between the two? Our sale agreement CL 8 says First Party (seller) bears all obligation owed by the Sold shop in favour of others including rents, wages, salaries, fees, taxes, fines .... and all other expenses related to the Shop until the date of registration of sale with the competent authority. What takes priority, sale agreement or Fed Law and who has liability for the loan?

Q: We (12 persons) have invested in a Japanese restaurant (AED 100,000), each with 3 years contract. After 2 years, the owner failed to pay the shop rent for the past 6 months and the landlord had closed the shop. The owner signed a waiver to the landlord that he no longer has a claim on that shop, meaning to say, he already hands over the full restaurant to the landlord. The landlord already sold the shop to another person. 3 of the investors already have bounced cheques while mine will expire in Oct 2018, and others as well. Question 1. What is the procedure for filing a case against the previous owner since he breached our contracts? Question 2. My cheque is still not due, can I file a case against him? Question 3, Do we need to get a lawyer with regards to our case? Best regards, Lea

Q: Dear all, I have a bit of a complicated situation and need your help, please. 4 months ago I had transferred my DMCC registered company fully to another individual with all of its liabilities. The company had a loan with the bank for which I gave my own cheque so I can secure the loan amount and the new owner agreed to take this loan as part of the company liability. DMCC says the loan is the liability of the company and the new owner responsibility. The bank says that the new owner needs to come and change the signature from mine to his - until then it is my responsibility. The new owner doesn't want to do it now that the company is transferred to him and therefore the bank keeps on charging me the loan instalments. Can you please advise on what to do in this situation and what choices do I have? Many thanks

Q: Dear sir/madam, I plan to take over the entire stuff of the factory, premises, and customer transmission but not the trade license. I shall be taking my own new trade license and using existing premises, equipment and workers too (by changing the visas). It is more or less like taking over all the CAPEX and headcount. The trade license has not been taken over and the factory name shall be changed. In this scenario, what type of precaution need to be taken? And what kind of purchase agreement is to be made?

Q: A local company in Dubai intends to acquire a 50% ownership stake in an auto repair business currently owned by an individual (100%). We are seeking professional legal advisory services to guide us through the acquisition process.

Over the years the UAE has become a centre of trade and commerce for the Middle East, thanks to its strategic location, excellent connectivity and extensive services to assist with all aspects of business. According to the World Bank's 2016 report, the UAE has ranked 31st in the global index of ease of doing business. This encourages more entrepreneurs to set up different kinds of business entities in the country.

The provisions of this Law apply to the commercial companies established in the UAE and the foreign companies that have established in the UAE a base to conduct any activity therein or established a branch or representative office. The Law abrogates Federal Law No. (8) of 1984 Concerning Commercial Companies.