Lease-back as a means of financing for companies
As can be deduced from previous publications (on Factoring contracts, What are Confirming agreements, etc.), for some time now the form of financing companies has been progressing at a dizzying rate.
It is a matter in continuous evolution every time new ways arise, each one more innovative, to obtain business financing.
Among them, we find Lease-back, increasingly used by small and large companies.
What is a leaseback
The Lease-back, or retroleasing, is a contract by which a company transfers assets from its property to a third party (usually a financial institution) that in that same act leases it to the first along with a purchase option to be exercised at the end of the lease.
As we can see, it is a mixed contract made up of a sale-purchase contract and a lease contract with a purchase option >.
It is a financing formula that allows companies to appease certain situations of imbalance in their balance sheets without having to give up their professional or productive activity.< /p>
The lease-back is usually used for real estate investments (acquisition of industrial buildings or offices, anticipating a revaluation), although it is also It is possible to use this formula with personal property.
Differs from Financial leasing in which in the Lease-back ownership of the property is transferred, rents are paid, and not installments on account of the purchase price , and the option price is a purchase price set at market value and not a “residual value” previously set as in leasing. Although the opposite can be agreed, that is, that the price of the purchase option is the residual value.
It is a way of obtaining liquidity by which companies free themselves from “old assets” that finance the acquisition and maintenance of new currency, short-term needs, etc. without the need to renounce the use of the transferred asset.
In addition, it allows financing one hundred percent of fixed assets or access to certain tax advantages.
However, before resorting to this type of contract we must consider the economic and financial situation of the company.
Ask yourself if it is not a better option to go for a mortgage loan, for which you may end up paying less or if, simply, this means of financing is not the best option when the economic state of the company is too delicate and in the long run it will not be a solution either.
The Lease-back will be convenient when there is a certain temporary need for liquidity to face payments to short term. Without forgetting that through this type of contract a long-term debt is acquired, since it implies continuing to pay a monthly fee for the lease of the property.
