Article 29 — Principles applicable to the liquidation phase

1. Member States shall ensure that, when the liquidation phase is opened, the court or competent authority authorises the sale of the debtor’s business, or part thereof, at least in one of the following cases: (a) the acquirer is proposed by the monitor, provided that the monitor has issued an opinion confirming that the sale process that took place during the preparation phase complied with the requirements laid down in Article 24(1) and the court or competent authority is satisfied that the requirements under Article 24(1) and (2) have been complied with; (b) the acquirer is selected in a public auction, where Member States provide for such an auction in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article; or (c) the sale to the acquirer is approved by the creditors as referred to in Article 24(4). 2. Member States may provide that the sale of the debtor’s business, or part thereof, under paragraph 1, point (c), is approved by the creditors without the authorisation of the court or competent authority where, under national law, the sale of the debtor’s business, or part thereof, requires the consent of the creditors. 3. The public auction referred to in Article 24(3) shall last no longer than three months. The bid selected by the monitor shall be used as the initial bid in the public auction. Member States shall ensure that the protections granted to the initial bidder in the preparation phase are commensurate and proportionate. 4. Member States shall provide that the court or the competent authority can decide that a valuation of the business of the debtor as a going concern is carried out on the ground that the best bid might not meet the best-interest-of-creditors test. Where, under national law, the sale of the debtor’s business, or part thereof, requires the consent of the creditors, Member States may provide that the decision referred to in the first subparagraph can be taken by the creditors without the involvement of the court or competent authority.