Appeal Regarding Refusal to Register Agricultural Operation Transfer Under Merger Law Due to Ancillary Rights and Procedural Defects

The court addressed an appeal against the refusal by the land registry office to register the transfer of an agricultural operation spanning two cantons under the Federal Act on Mergers, which included the simultaneous establishment of a lifelong right of residence and a right of first refusal for relatives. The court affirmed the refusal regarding the right of residence and the right of first refusal because these secondary rights, particularly the right of residence acting as consideration, fell outside the scope of the merger law's simplified transfer mechanism, thus requiring adherence to cantonal notarial law formalities (§ 3 para. 2 of the Cantonal Notarization Act for the residence right) and correct registration procedure for the right of first refusal (which was incorrectly noted as lacking the beneficiary's signature). However, the court reasoned that for the property transfer itself under merger law concerning multiple cantons, a single public deed suffices, as the law facilitates such transfers to avoid the cumbersome individual formalities otherwise required, but this specific registration was ultimately denied due to the lack of a certified extract from the Commercial Register as mandated for proving ownership transfer in such cases.