I have been approached about taking over a small fleet of 5 owner operator trucking co. The owner wants to drop it in my partners lap as well as myself.
The problem is he is 75 yrs. Old (the trucking co. Owner) & has a lien of 50K on the co.
My thought is we go in & run this co. For 2 yrs until he gets the lien paid off & then we put the co, in our name.
During this 2 yr. Peroid we would have total control of EVERYTHING. And the owner would receive approx. 2k per month for 24 months.to pay off his debt.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Have you had an CPA look into the books beyond the lien?

I certainly would do this and get a complete picture before I would do anything.

Also I would take a close look at the sales and progression of the company. Get a close look at the last five years at least.

And my last question is: Do you and your partner have experience in the trucking industry? I believe that should be a certainty.

Good luck, let us know how this plays out.

Stringer

Stringer, thank you for the response. We had a serious curve ball thrown to us. For starters I currently own a trucking co.a Freight brokerage agency & (a power wash co. since July of this year).
I started my trucking co. back in 2001.
Here is where the curve ball comes in. The owner of the co. sent us a copy of his books. He originally told me he had 6 trucks of his own, He lied . All owner operators leased on to his co.Re Flag #1. He told me he had a 50K lien on the co. He lied Red Flag #2. The lien is 250K. He stated co . Was doing 1.35 mil. A yr. gross. It was showing on the books 825,000.00 He was running in the red big time. So my partner & I backed out in over drive, very quickly.
Stringer, I do thank you for your help . This was the 1st time anyone has approached me about taking over a co. That is why I asked the question.