59.1-356 - Transfer of business.
§ 59.1-356. Transfer of business.
A. No supplier shall unreasonably withhold or delay consent to any transferof the dealer's business or transfer of the stock or other interest in thedealership, whenever the dealer to be substituted meets the material andreasonable qualifications and standards required of its dealers. Should asupplier determine that a proposed transferee does not meet itsqualifications and standards, it shall give the dealer written noticethereof, stating the specific reasons for withholding consent. No prospectivetransferee shall be disqualified to be a dealer because it is a publicly heldcorporation. A supplier shall have forty-five days to consider a dealer'srequest to make a transfer under this subsection.
B. Notwithstanding any provision in subsection A of this section, no suppliershall withhold consent to, or in any manner retain a right of prior approvalof, the transfer of the dealer's business to a member or members of thefamily of the dealer or the principal owner of the dealer. As used in thissubsection, "family" means and includes the spouse, parent, siblings,children, stepchildren and lineal descendants, including those by adoption ofthe dealer or principal owner of the dealer.
C. Whenever a transfer of a dealer's business occurs, the transferee shallassume all the obligations imposed on and succeed to all the rights held bythe selling dealer by virtue of any agreement, consistent with this chapter,between the selling dealer and one or more suppliers entered into prior tothe transfer.
D. In any dispute as to whether a supplier has denied consent in violation ofthis section, the supplier shall have the burden of proving a substantial andreasonable justification for the denial of consent.
(1988, c. 73.)