Law for Business 10th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 2

In 1981 Cooper sold the Blackwell Sand Company, including its goodwill, to Stewart. The sales agreement contained a covenant not to compete that prohibited Cooper from entering in any manner into the sand business within 100 miles of Meridian, Mississippi, for 10 years. In 1982 Stewart assigned all his interest in the company to Gidden, his former partner. Subsequently, Cooper reentered the sand business, and Gidden sought to enforce the covenant not to compete against Cooper. Cooper claimed the covenant was a personal covenant between himself and Stewart and thus could not be assigned. Is a covenant not to compete accompanying the sale of a business assignable?