Professor Alan O. Sykes is quoted in a Washington Post story about product liability:

Traditionally, only mergers result in one company taking on the liability of another, said Alan O. Sykes, a professor at Stanford Law School. A major benefit of buying assets is that no liabilities are incurred.

“When a company is bankrupt and sells off its old factory and stuff, the people who buy those assets in those sorts of asset sales are not liable,” Sykes said.