52Termination by franchisee—cooling off period for transferred franchise agreements

52 Termination by franchisee—cooling off period for transferred franchise agreements

(1) This section applies if: (a) a franchise agreement is transferred between a person (the old franchisee) who was the franchisee under the agreement and a person (the new franchisee) who becomes the franchisee for the purposes of the agreement; and (b) the transfer does not involve a new franchise agreement being entered into by the new franchisee and the franchisor; and (c) the new franchisee has not given the old franchisee and the franchisor a written notice under subsection (4).

Note: For a transfer that involves a new franchise agreement being entered into by the franchisor and the person to whom the transfer was made by the old franchisee, see section 50.

(2) The new franchisee may, by written notice given to the old franchisee and the franchisor before the time mentioned in subsection (3), do all of the following: (a) cease to be the franchisee for the purposes of the agreement; (b) if the old franchisee can become the franchisee for those purposes again—cause the old franchisee to do so; (c) if there was an agreement (the transfer agreement) between the new franchisee and the old franchisee for the purposes of the transfer—terminate the transfer agreement. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the time is the earlier of the following: (a) the end of the period of 14 days starting on the day after the new franchisee becomes the franchisee for the purposes of the franchise agreement; (b) the day the new franchisee takes possession and control of the franchised business. New franchisee may opt out of cooling‑off period (4) The new franchisee may, by written notice given to the old franchisee and the franchisor, opt out of being able to do all of the things mentioned in subsection (2) if: (a) the franchisee has another franchise agreement (the other agreement) with the franchisor that is the same or substantially the same as the franchise agreement; and (b) the business that is the subject of the franchise agreement is the same or substantially the same as the business that is or was the subject of the other agreement.