Buying or selling a business in Malta: what actually changes hands
A business with premises is not one asset but a bundle: the goodwill, the lease, the licences, the equipment, sometimes the people. Each piece transfers differently, and the deals that go wrong go wrong on the piece nobody priced. Here is the bundle, unpacked for both sides of the table.
Market figures from 263 live listings across Malta, computed 12 August 2026
- What transfers
- 4 things
- The value the lease holds
- Di fermo years left
- Employees on a transfer
- Generally follow
- Before any offer
- See the lease
Live market: the median asking price across 263 commercial premises advertised on Darscover is €585,000.
Shops, offices and premises currently advertised for sale across Malta, straight from the live stock.
Browse commercial property for saleThe middle half of 263 listings asks between €233,500 and €1,500,000
Selling a business or premises?
Tell us where it is and we will send what comparable commercial property is asking, the sample behind the figure, and the three lease facts buyers will price first.
The 4 things a business sale transfers
When a Maltese business changes hands as a going concern, the price is really the sum of four transfers, and a buyer's due diligence is checking each one exists and moves:
- The goodwill (avvjament): the trading name, the customer base, the location's earning history. This is what the accounts have to evidence; a price built on turnover the books cannot show is a price built on air.
- The lease: most Maltese businesses trade from rented premises, so what is really sold is the right to occupy. The years left on the di fermo, the rent steps ahead, and whether the landlord consents to an assignment decide most of the deal's value.
- The licences and registrations: whatever the operation needs to trade lawfully must be transferable or reissuable to the buyer. Confirm with each issuing authority what its process is before money moves; a premises that cannot be relicensed is a room with equipment in it.
- The kit and stock: itemised, valued, and stated as included or not. Leased equipment is a debt wearing an asset's clothes; list it separately.
Why the lease is usually the deal
A profitable operation with 2 di fermo years left and a landlord unwilling to extend is worth less than its accounts suggest, because the buyer is purchasing a countdown. The reverse also holds: a long, assignable lease at a below-market rent is an asset in itself, sometimes the main one. Before any offer, both sides should read the lease for the term remaining, the escalation, the assignment clause, and any change-of-use restriction; the commercial lease page explains each of these terms.
Assignment in practice means the landlord's consent. Landlords commonly treat an assignment as the moment to reset terms, so budget negotiating room, and remember that if an agency brokers the new lease the market fee runs at 10% of the average di fermo rent plus 18% VAT from each side.
The people transfer with the business
Where a business transfers as a going concern, the general position under Maltese employment law is that the employees transfer with it on their existing terms; a sale is not a route to a clean payroll. Both sides should list the staff, their terms and their accrued entitlements as part of the deal papers, and take advice on the specifics, because getting this wrong converts a purchase into a dispute.
What commercial premises are asking now
Where the sample supports it, the panel above shows the live median asking price for commercial premises for sale on Darscover, with its sample size. Business-with-premises listings are a thin, high-value market; the figures print only where they are honest.
Selling a business or a premises? Say so where buyers look
This page ranks for the searches buyers type, which makes it the wrong place to be invisible if you are the seller. An owner selling a business with premises in Malta almost never advertises the fact until an agent is involved; meanwhile the buyers are here. Listing the premises on Darscover is free, and the enquiry below gets you an honest read on what comparable commercial property is asking before you set a price, with no mandate attached.
Common questions
- How do I value a business for sale in Malta?
- Price the four pieces separately: sustainable profit the accounts can evidence, the lease (years of di fermo left, rent trajectory, assignability), the licences' transferability, and the equipment at realistic values. A single multiple applied to claimed turnover is how buyers overpay.
- Does the lease transfer when I buy a business in Malta?
- Only as the lease allows: assignment normally needs the landlord's consent, and landlords often use the moment to renegotiate. Read the assignment clause and the di fermo remaining before anything else; they carry most of the deal's value.
- Do employees transfer when a Maltese business is sold?
- As a rule yes: on a going-concern transfer employees generally move with the business on their existing terms. List staff and entitlements in the deal papers and take advice on the specifics.
- Can I sell my business premises without selling the business?
- Yes. The premises is immovable property and sells by deed like any other; the business can continue as a tenant of the buyer, or wind down separately. Which structure nets more depends on the lease you can offer a buyer, which is exactly what the enquiry on this page prices.