Once the company has closed
Records of a closed company: who holds them and who can sell
Updated
When a company closes, its records do not disappear with it: they pass to whoever now acts for the company, an office-holder in an insolvency or the Crown once a UK company is dissolved, and that person decides whether they can be sold.
An office-holder in the UK
Section 234 of the Insolvency Act 1986 lets the court require anyone holding books, papers or records to which the company appears entitled to deliver them to the office-holder. Section 235 obliges officers and others to give the office-holder the information about the company's business and property that it reasonably requires.
Source: Company records release law
A trustee in a US bankruptcy
Under 11 U.S.C. 521 the debtor surrenders to the trustee all property of the estate and any recorded information, including books, documents, records and papers. Section 542(e) lets the court order an attorney, accountant or other person holding such recorded information to turn it over.
Source: Company records release law
The people named in the records
Records full of names stay personal data. UK GDPR article 5 says personal data are kept in identifiable form no longer than their purpose needs, which is one reason buyers strip identifiers before anything is licensed.
More on company records
Selling before the company is wound up is on can a company sell assets before liquidation.