Buying a business with 200K

I got my Visa in Jan 2014 and planned to buy an existing business, I have now got told that I cannot do this as this will not count and that I should be starting a new business as any money you pay which goes to the previous owner do not count as part of your 200K investment even is this is a company (this is contrary to previous legal advice I got). So in other words the goodwill you pay for a business do not count as part of your investment.

My plans was to buy an existing franchise for GB165 000 for the assets and goodwill and invest the balance of GBP35 000 to finance the cash flow as the business have a lot of debtors and create two additional jobs, I would only acquire the assets of the company as I have my own LL company setup since April 2014.

Can anyone which acquired a business please clarify their interpretation:

1. Do the goodwill you pay for acquiring a business count towards the 200K investment ?

Sorry I should have made it clear that the interpretation is that it does not matter when you got your visa and that the rule has been there before the change in 2014, hence the confusion. I was under the impression that I could investment in a existing business as I got my visa before the change in 2014.