Mergers And Acquisitions ' Where Does Immigration Fit In?

• Published date: 31 August 2023
• Law Firm: Wright Hassall
• Author: Ms Stacey Lambert

There is a long-established principle that liability for immigration breaches can transfer on the acquisition of a business, along with employees. The widening of the sponsorship net to bring most employment-related immigration into the Points Based System makes the Sponsor Management System the default mechanism for making timely notifications. Both buyers and sellers of businesses need to know their obligations and the risks of getting it wrong.

Change of business ownership and TUPE transfers from an Immigration Perspective

If there is a change in the ownership of your business, you may find workers are protected under TUPE or similar protection. Examples are:

• Merger
• Partial merger
• Takeover
• De-merger
• Change in controlling shareholder occurs.

How does TUPE protection work for sponsored migrants?

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 as amended by the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 govern...