Selling data from a closed or liquidating company
Who controls the records once a company stops trading, what can be licensed, and the checks that come before any buyer conversation.
By Sell My Company Data · Published and last reviewed 31 October 2026
- Control
- Director, administrator, liquidator or trustee
- Usually licensable
- Operational records the estate owns
- Usually not
- Customer lists and personal data
No files needed to start
The short answer
Sometimes. A closed company can still hold valuable operational records, but the person who can approve a licence is rarely the founder. Once an insolvency practitioner is appointed, the assets are controlled by the estate, and the practitioner's approval is normally required.
The buyer matters too. Some programmes want defunct companies specifically, with staff and data thresholds. Others will only deal with a trading company that can stand behind its permissions. Check both sides before spending time on a deal.
Who controls the data after trading stops
The answer changes with the company's status.
- Solvent wind-down, director still in control. The company can license its own records before dissolution.
- Administration. The administrator controls the assets and decides what is realized.
- Liquidation. The liquidator realizes assets for creditors, and data can be one of them.
- Dissolved. In England and Wales, the assets of a dissolved company pass to the Crown as bona vacantia. There is usually nothing left for a private buyer to license without that process.
Check the register rather than the founder's memory. Companies House shows status and filings, The Gazette carries insolvency notices, and the Insolvency Service explains the procedures.
What is usually licensable, and what is not
An estate can usually license operational records it owns: workspace archives, support tickets and CRM history, code repositories with their history, contracts, internal documents, and finance records that show how work was done.
Some things fall outside the scope, whatever their volume:
- Customer, patient, member or consumer lists
- Employee personal data beyond what the proposed use requires
- Third-party confidential material the company never owned
- Records already sold or transferred with the business
Removing names reduces risk. It does not create a right to license, and it does not make personal data sellable on its own.
Buyer programmes that ask for defunct companies
Some buyers publish a specific route for closed companies. micro1's Defunct Company Data Partnership asks for 50 or more peak employees, substantial Slack or Teams data, a company that is no longer operating, deliverables or strategic assets, English-language records, and a company based in one of ten listed countries.
Marketplaces such as rl.data.cool list de-identified deal sheets and release samples under NDA once the owner has committed. Programmes change their criteria, so read the current page before relying on any threshold. Passing one buyer's filter is not a qualification, and it is not an offer.
Five checks before you approach a buyer
- Status. Confirm the insolvency procedure and its date from Companies House and The Gazette.
- Authority. Identify the appointed practitioner and get their agreement in writing before any introduction.
- Retention. Establish what still exists, what has been deleted, and what is under a legal hold.
- Prior transfers. Check whether the records were sold with the business, licensed already, or promised to a creditor.
- Contracts. Review customer agreements, data processing terms and employee notices for limits on reuse.
These checks protect the practitioner as much as the buyer. A licence granted by someone without authority is a problem for everyone who relied on it.
What to prepare
A short pack is enough to start a conversation:
- Company number, status and the procedure date
- Practitioner name, firm and contact
- Systems list with years and rough volumes
- Where the records live, including cloud region and admin access
- Who can approve a licence
- Known exclusions, such as customer lists or client material
Do not send the records themselves, customer details or credentials at this stage. The tool inventory covers the system detail, and the licensing guide covers rights and scope.
Timing destroys value faster than price
Estate deadlines and cloud retention windows can remove the asset before a buyer reviews anything. A destruction schedule set by a practitioner does not wait for a sales process.
If a deadline exists, say so in the first conversation. It changes which buyers are realistic, and it may rule out a full sample review. A quick, smaller licence can be better than a perfect deal that closes after the archive is gone.
Fees and written terms
This site does not publish a seller fee schedule, so any fee or commission is stated in writing before you agree to anything. Nothing is payable up front, and an introduction is not a sale.
We do not buy the records ourselves. We scope the opportunity and approach licensing partners whose programmes fit. The website terms and the privacy notice set out the rest.
Questions
Can a liquidator sell company data?
It is an asset realization question. The practitioner decides, usually with legal advice, and their written agreement comes before any buyer conversation.
Is data from a dissolved company free to use?
No. In England and Wales the assets of a dissolved company pass to the Crown as bona vacantia. A private buyer cannot simply take them.
Can we sell customer lists?
Usually not. Customer and consumer records are personal data, and a large row count does not make them licensable. Scope the deal to operational records instead.
The company is still trading but closing. Is it too early?
No. Starting before a practitioner is appointed gives you time to map the systems and retention windows while the director can still approve access.
Do you buy the data yourselves?
No. We scope the opportunity and arrange introductions to licensing partners. We do not take ownership of the records.