Pre-purchase screening — report from public records
A sample of the €550 report: a restaurant for sale in Sète, France, read from the French public records. Names changed, sources and method real. The same text is available as a PDF.
- Target
- restaurant "Le Petit Comptoir", Sète, Hérault, France
- Asking price
- €138 000
- rent stated in the listing
- €1 400 per month
- Tier
- €550
- Date of issue
- 29 August 2026
This is a teaching sample. The trade name, the company name, the identifiers and the address have been changed so that no real person can be identified. The statutes, the names of the sources, the way the checks are run and the shape of the report are real: this is exactly what a paying client receives.
1. Verdict
Resolve-first — two questions remain open before any deposit, and each of them moves the price.
The target is identified: the establishment corresponds to an active legal entity registered in March 2019. No blocking records — insolvency proceedings, court decisions, pledges — appear in the French public sources as at the date of the check. Two questions stay open: the seller has not stated the form of the transaction, and the terrace permit is held by a person rather than by the establishment.
What this means for you: it is too early to buy, and there is nothing here to walk away from. Both open questions are closed by two documents from the seller — the list is in section 10 below. Until they are closed, no deposit should be paid.
2. Red flags
| What was found | Why it is a flag |
|---|---|
| The establishment was already sold in 2019 for €92 000 | today's price is €46 000 higher for the same floor area and the same rent |
| The pavement permit is issued in the name of the current holder | it does not travel with the establishment and needs a separate application |
| The form of the transaction is not stated in the listing | it decides whether debts the seller may not know about follow the buyer |
What this means for you: none of the three cancels the deal. Each is something to negotiate: the seller explains the price increase, the permit is re-issued, the parties choose the form of the transaction. But until they are spoken about, the buyer pays for what was never asked.
3. What is actually being sold: the company or its assets
The seller has not named the form of the transaction. Everything else depends on it, so both branches are printed here.
| Buying the shares of the company | Buying the assets (the going concern) | |
|---|---|---|
| Company debts | all of them follow, including unknown ones | only those named by statute follow: tax, social security, employees |
| Employees | stay, seniority is not interrupted | transfer under the rule on transfer of an undertaking |
| Licences and permits | usually stay with the legal entity | usually require re-issue |
| Lease | stays, but it may contain a clause: if the company's owner changes, the landlord is entitled to revise the contract | requires the landlord's consent |
| Tax authority certificate on the seller's payment status (called the "shield document" in this report — a paper that shields the buyer from someone else's debt) | usually does not help: the company itself is bought along with its past | key instrument |
What this means for you: this is the first question to ask the seller, not the last. Buying shares brings the whole history of the company with it — including a debt the seller may not have known about. Buying assets leaves the history with the seller, but almost everything has to be re-issued. For this target, the difference between the two branches is tens of thousands of euros.
4. Owners and who is who
| Role | What is established | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | SAS COMPTOIR DU SUD — SAS is a French company form, roughly equivalent to a limited liability company. Company registration number (SIREN) 812 345 678, registered 13.03.2019, status "active" | national business register, 29.08.2026 |
| Trade name on the door | "Le Petit Comptoir" — does not match the company name | same register, trade-name field |
| Officers | two: a chairman and a general manager | same register |
| Who owns the company (the shareholders) | not established: asked, awaiting the source's answer | beneficial-owner register, access restricted |
| Owner of the premises | not established: not checked at this tier | — |
What this means for you: an officer and an owner are different things. It is known who signs the documents, but not who owns the company. For a share purchase this matters: the contract is signed by the owners, not by the manager. The question is closed by an extract the buyer requests.
5. What the price is made of, and what passes to you
Eleven pillars that make up any business. For each one: does it pass to the buyer, and what supports that. A pillar here means whatever you are paying money for: the premises, the permits, the people, the equipment, and so on.
| Pillar | How it transfers | What supports it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Legal shell (the company itself) | depends on the form of the transaction | entry in the business register |
| 2. Right to the place (lease) | landlord's consent required | seller's word — the contract was not produced |
| 3. Right to operate (permits) | re-issue required | permit register, open trace |
| 4. Means of production (equipment) | not established | asked, awaiting the source's answer |
| 5. Stock and goods | not established | not checked at this tier |
| 6. People (staff, seniority) | transfer under the country's statute | public headcount data |
| 7. Demand (what customers are attached to) | does not transfer automatically | dated series of reviews |
| 8. Contracts and counterparties | each one's consent required | not checked at this tier |
| 9. Name, trademark and digital keys | not established | not checked at this tier |
| 10. Provability of money (filed accounts) | — | accounts filed five years running |
| 11. Obligations, past and future | some follow by statute | insolvency register: no records |
What this means for you: the table does not show "good" or "bad" — it shows what supports each pillar today. The line "not established" means exactly that and nothing more — neither "all is well" nor "something is hidden". A summary of this table follows in the next section.
6. What can be relied on right now
Confirmed by a record or document legal shell (the company itself) · permits · staff · obligations
Rests only on the seller's word right to the place (lease) · demand · stock
Asked, awaiting the source's answer equipment
Not checked at this tier supplier contracts · name, trademark and digital keys
The seller refused no items fall in this category
By the typical structure of a restaurant, the price is usually carried by the right to the place, the equipment and demand. Two of these three pillars are not yet confirmed by a document here — and those two are exactly what heads the request list (section 10).
What this means for you: there is deliberately no score, no rating and no total here — these lines cannot be added into one number, and that number could not be used to compare two different businesses anyway. The list answers a different question: what you can lean on in a conversation with the seller right now, and what still has to be found out. A picture built without the seller's documents almost always looks like this; it changes once the papers are in hand.
7. Stated in the listing — and what the records say
| Stated by the seller | What the record says | Divergence |
|---|---|---|
| "trading for more than ten years" | the company was registered 13.03.2019 — seven years | the stated period is three years longer than the recorded one |
| "sold for the first time" | a publication about the sale of the same establishment in 2019 for €92 000 | it is being sold for the second time |
| "equipment included in the price" | asked at the register of security interests, awaiting an answer | neither confirmed nor refuted |
What this means for you: a divergence is not an accusation. "More than ten years" may refer to the establishment rather than to the company: the place may have traded under a different owner. But the three-year difference and the second sale are for the seller to explain before the deposit, not after.
8. How long before the business runs at full strength
At least 4 months, based on the terms that are established. For a further 2 items, no term is established.
This is not about the business being closed. The dining room operates from day one — what takes time is separate permits.
| What | Term |
|---|---|
| Re-issue of the terrace permit | 3–4 months |
| Landlord's consent to the transfer of the lease | term not established |
| Re-registration for food-safety purposes | term not established |
What this means for you: the dining room is open and earning, while the terrace sits idle for these months — even though rent is paid for the whole premises. At a rent of €1 400 a month, four months without the terrace is €5 600 of cost that is usually not built into the price. That is something to negotiate.
9. The competitive picture
| Competitor | Distance | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| The target itself | — | 148 | 4.3 |
| Restaurant on the seafront | 240 m | 1 020 | 4.5 |
| Family trattoria | 310 m | 610 | 4.6 |
| Chain pizzeria | 450 m | 380 | 4.0 |
Cross-test: the strongest neighbour has seven times more reviews, at a rating 0.2 higher. The target is not the leader of its stretch of street — it sits in the middle.
What this means for you: a review count is not turnover, and one cannot be converted into the other. But it shows how many people noticed the place at all. If the seller explains the price by "footfall and reputation", this table is what such a claim is checked against.
10. What to request from the seller before any deposit
| # | Document | What it closes | What a refusal means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The lease with every annex | remaining term, right to transfer, the change-of-control clause | on refusal the remaining lease term stays unknown, and it decides whether the investment pays back |
| 2 | Register extract showing the share capital | who owns the company and who signs the contract | a refusal is itself a result and is recorded in the file |
| 3 | The terrace permit naming its holder | whether it transfers and within what period | without it, four dead months turn into an unknown |
| 4 | Tax clearance certificate | which obligations transfer by statute | a refusal to produce it is a finding in its own right |
| 5 | Lease-finance agreements and an equipment inventory | whose equipment is in the room | without an inventory, "equipment included" cannot be checked |
If the seller does not answer — what to do and how long to wait. Silence is also an answer, but it needs a deadline, otherwise the wait drags on until someone else takes the business:
- 5 working days — send a reminder, using the same wording as the first message;
- 10 working days — repeat the request in writing and ask for the reason for the refusal
to be stated;
- 15 working days with no answer — treat the item as closed by refusal and decide on what
is available. A seller who will not produce a lease after two weeks will usually not produce it after the deposit either.
The deadlines here are a matter of sound practice, not a legal requirement: the law does not oblige the seller to answer.
What this means for you: this is not paperwork for its own sake. Every line is a question that is too late to ask after signature. A refusal to provide a document is also an answer, and it is recorded in the file alongside the documents that were produced.
11. Questions for the seller — ready to send as they are
The questions are given in French so that they can be forwarded to the seller without translation.
| In English | To the seller, word for word |
|---|---|
| Are you selling the shares of the company or the business assets? | Vendez-vous les parts de la société ou le fonds de commerce ? |
| Who holds the terrace permit, and does it transfer? | Qui est le titulaire de l'autorisation de terrasse, et est-elle transmissible ? |
| How many years are left on the lease? | Combien d'années restent-il sur le bail ? |
| The establishment was sold in 2019 — were you the buyer then? | L'établissement a été vendu en 2019 : en étiez-vous l'acquéreur ? |
What this means for you: the questions are written in the seller's language on purpose — they are forwarded exactly as they are, without knowing French. An answer and a refusal to answer are equally useful: both are recorded in the file with a date.
12. What was checked and what was not
| Direction | State |
|---|---|
| Business register, status of the company | checked 29.08.2026 |
| Insolvency and court proceedings | checked 29.08.2026, no records |
| Publications about previous sales of the establishment | checked 29.08.2026 |
| Sanctions lists | checked 29.08.2026, no matches |
| Licences and permits | partly checked: the holder is established, the term is not |
| Security interests and lease finance over equipment | asked, awaiting the source's answer |
| Supplier contracts, stock, rights to the name | not checked at this tier |
| Actual turnover | published by nobody |
What this means for you: "no records" is not a certificate that no debt exists. It means only the absence of a record in the named source on the named date. A debt that nobody has taken to court does not appear in these sources at all.
13. What remains unknown to everyone
- How much the place actually earns. It is in no document. There is one way to check it,
and it is free: sit across the street for three evenings and count people.
- Whether the customers will come back for a new owner. No paper will show this.
- The real reason for the sale. No register establishes it.
- The condition of the equipment. Ownership can be checked, wear cannot: that takes a
physical inspection.
What this means for you: these are the limits not of this particular check, but of public records generally. No provider, for any amount of money, can produce what does not exist in the records. Each of these four, however, is something the buyer can check personally, and it costs only time.
14. What to do next
- Send the seller the four questions from section 11 — today, before any commitment.
- Request the five documents from section 10.
- Once the lease is in hand, come back to the dead-months calculation: it will change.
- Discuss the three-year difference and the second sale before the deposit.
What this means for you: the order matters. The two free steps come first — the questions and the document request. The deposit is paid last, not first.
15. Limits, liability and shelf life
This is not an audit, not a business valuation, not legal or tax advice, and not a recommendation to buy or not to buy. The decision stays with the buyer.
Liability is limited to the amount paid for the report.
The shelf life of the fast layer is 7 days. Information about debts, court proceedings and encumbrances is correct as at the retrieval date shown against each line. If more than seven days pass between that date and signature, those items are worth requesting again: register entries change daily. Statutes and permit information do not go stale that fast.
What this means for you: the report shows what is on record in state sources on a specific day. It does not replace a lawyer at signature and does not guarantee the outcome of the deal. Its job is to make sure that by the time of signature, no question remains that could have been asked in advance.
16. Appendix: sources, dates, state
| Source | What was taken | Date | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| National business register (France) | name, SIREN, registration date, trade name, officers, status | 29.08.2026 | obtained |
| Official bulletin of mandatory publications | publications about the sale of the establishment, insolvency proceedings | 29.08.2026 | obtained |
| Register of security interests over movable assets | pledges and lease finance over equipment | 29.08.2026 | the source exists, no answer was obtained |
| Consolidated sanctions list | matches against the company and its officers | 29.08.2026 | obtained, no matches |
| Mapping service | reviews, neighbours, dated activity series | 29.08.2026 | obtained |
What this means for you: every line in this report can be opened and checked independently — the source and the date are named. A report that cannot be re-checked is worth nothing.