Once the steering committee has been set up with the help of the co-operative business advisor, negotiations leading up to an agreement on the terms and conditions for buying your business will be officially launched.

Commitment Letter

The purpose of a commitment letter is to protect both parties, who agree to respect the absolute confidentiality of all information collected during the process.

The two parties mutually agree on key parameters for their negotiations:

• the actors involved, for example, a business valuation firm, your notary, your financial consultant, the experts that the Co-operative business advisor will need;
• the steps in the transfer process;
• the timetable for the process.

If the transfer process involves the business's workers, the letter must also set out the conditions pertaining to "leave for co-operative business" for their representatives who are members of the steering committee (the equivalent to leave for union business, as provided for in a collective agreement), the work hours they can take off for co-operative business, and the office space available for committee meetings, etc.