Is a company’s data an asset in a business sale?

Why does data not show in the accounts?

Accounting standards are cautious about anything a business builds for itself.

The IFRS Foundation’s summary of IAS 38, the standard for intangible assets, says an intangible asset is identifiable when it is separable, and that separable assets can be sold, transferred or licensed. It also says that internally generated brands, mastheads, publishing titles, customer lists and similar items are not recognised as intangible assets, because their cost is hard to tell apart from the cost of running the business.

Years of email, chat, support cases and sales notes are built inside the business in exactly that way. They can be licensed, so they have value. They have no line on the balance sheet.

What changed in 2026?

A market price appeared for internal records.

PYMNTS reported that Google paid $10 million at a bankruptcy auction for the internal records of Spirit Airlines, and that Mercor bid against it. PYMNTS wrote that corporate email archives, internal chat logs and IT tickets have historically had almost no resale value once a company failed, and were treated as a cost to store and dispose of. It added that the case may change that calculation for any company with a substantial digital paper trail and a real operating history.

That sale is of a failed airline, still before a court, and it is not a guide to what a healthy mid-sized company’s records are worth. It does show that a class of asset your clients already hold now has buyers.

What will an acquirer ask about the data?

Rights come before value.

Lawyers interviewed by Lexpert described how acquirers look at data. One said the central focus remains on ownership rights and how “pristine” the data is, especially where datasets, training inputs and licensing rights are involved. Another said buyers need to understand where the data came from, whether the company has the legal rights to use it, and whether the proposed uses align with what users originally consented to.

Bricker Graydon Wyatt lists what a buyer’s lawyers review in vendor and data agreements: assignability, termination rights and restrictions relating to data use, among others. It notes that representations and warranties about data practices become important in the transaction documents. Its closing advice is aimed at your client: sellers who evaluate and address these concerns before entering the market are better placed to get through a transaction.

How does a data licence before the sale affect the deal?

It can add proceeds before closing, and it adds a contract the acquirer will read. Three points decide whether it helps or hurts:

• Exclusive or not. A non-exclusive licence of a fixed copy of past records leaves the acquirer free to use and license the same records. An exclusive licence does not, and an acquirer may mark the price down for it.
• A copy, not access. A licence of a past copy ends at delivery. Ongoing access to live systems is a continuing obligation that passes to the new owner.
• Disclosure. Any licence belongs in the data room, with the list of what was included and what was left out.

If the timing is wrong, the other choice is to do the groundwork and pass the option on. An acquirer who receives a clean inventory and a rights check can license the records after closing.

What should an advisor do before going to market?

Add four items to your pre-sale list:

1. List the records. Which systems hold them, how far back they go, and roughly how much there is. No files, only a description.
2. Check the rights. Client contracts with confidentiality clauses, what staff were told, and the privacy notice. Records the business holds for its clients usually stay out.
3. Decide with the owner. License now, or pass the option to the acquirer. Either is a fair answer.
4. Disclose. Whatever is decided goes in writing for the buyer’s lawyers.

We describe the typical range for a business’s records on Korra as $200K to $2M. It is a starting point for a conversation, not an offer and not a valuation for a sale. The owner lists a description, approves every offer, and pays nothing.

If this fits a client of yours, the partner kit has the words for the first conversation, and the partner page explains how partners work with us.