Can a struggling business's owner still negotiate personally with me, or does the receiver take over completely?

Once a receiver is appointed, typically by a secured creditor or the court, the receiver generally takes over control of the relevant assets along with the authority to negotiate and approve a sale involving them — the owner and directors usually lose the power to bind the company regarding those specific assets, though they may still be consulted informally or provide information the receiver relies on.

Before a receiver is appointed, the owner can still negotiate directly and reach a binding deal, but a buyer dealing with an owner known to be in serious financial difficulty should be alert to the risk that a deal reached at that stage could later be challenged if the company ends up in formal insolvency proceedings anyway. If you're not sure whether a receiver has already been appointed, or is about to be, confirm the current status of any formal proceeding before assuming the owner you're speaking with still has full authority to sell.