Selling Your Business with a PPA in Place
Most PPAs include change-of-control and assignment clauses. What buyers will demand and how to structure the term sheet upfront.
Selling a business with a live PPA
Most UK commercial PPAs include change-of-control and assignment-on-sale clauses. These determine what happens when the off-taker (you) sells the building or the business — and they're often left to last-minute negotiation, which is expensive.
Three common pathways
1. Automatic transfer to buyer
Buyer inherits the PPA on substantially the same terms. Standard for arm's length sales to comparable covenant. Provider may require credit check on incoming buyer.
2. Provider consent required
Provider has approval right over buyer. Provider can demand new guarantees, fees or even tariff renegotiation if the buyer is weaker.
3. Buy-out on sale
Some PPAs trigger a fair-market-value buy-out on change of control — particularly if buyer is significantly weaker covenant. Costly but clean.
What buyers will check during DD
- PPA tariff vs current market — over-market PPAs hurt value
- Remaining contract term — long contracts limit buyer flexibility
- Escalator structure — high-escalator contracts are expensive future liabilities
- Assignment-on-sale clauses — restrictive clauses kill multiple bidders
- O&M obligations — weakly-drafted O&M can become a buyer headache
Negotiating upfront
Before signing the PPA, negotiate:
- Right to assign to any buyer of comparable size + covenant — no consent needed
- Pre-agreed buy-out formula if change-of-control triggers
- Cap on any "assignment fee" payable to provider
- 30-day notification protocol (not advance approval)
See what tariff your site qualifies for
A 60-second form gives us enough to match your site to providers and return an indicative tariff range within one working day.
Get an indicative PPA tariffA buyer takes over your role as the PPA offtaker, so the provider will want to see that the new owner's covenant is at least as strong as yours.
Also worth reading
- Is a Solar PPA On or Off Balance Sheet? (IFRS 16)
- PPA Escalator Clauses Explained: Fixed, RPI, CPI and How to Negotiate
- PPA vs Rooftop Lease: 25-Year Cashflow Compared
- Smart Export Guarantee vs PPA Export Tariff
- Step-in Rights: When the Lender Takes Over Your PPA
- UK Solar PPA Blog — practical guides for off-takers
Get a p/kWh figure for your own building
Selling Your Business with a PPA in Place — tell us about your site and we'll return an indicative p/kWh tariff for it. Reply by email within one working day.