WIWO
This four-letter acronym stands for Walk-In, Walk-Out.
The phrase is often used in reference to the sale of a business. The term indicates that the business for sale can change hands without the need to cease trading or normal activity.
A Walk-In, Walk-Out sale literally means that the buyer walks in on settlement day as the previous owner walks out and that throughout the sale process, the business continues to function as normal.
For a business to be sold on this basis, it would need to be well-established business drawing in good profits. Therefore, this type of sale would only work if the business was considered a going concern.
On completion, the new owner would take on all the stock, suppliers, staff and clients of the previous owner. He would be buying the business and its assets as a whole and not as separate entities.
Taking the sale of a hotel as an example, the day the contracts go through the new owner takes over the running of the hotel from the previous owner. He inherits all the previous owner’s staff and guests etc and the hotel continues to run along the same lines as it did before with the only noticeable change being in the ownership.
