Joint Ownership BTL Business change to Partnership before changing to Limited Company

My wife and I jointly own 10 BTL Properties and have run them as a business for over 15 years. We now want to move the business to a limited company. We have been told that because manage our BTL properties as a business instead of being a passive investment we can move the properties to a Limited Company and not need to pay the SDLT as the company structure will be the same as the 50/50 split in our business. Is it correct that we can claim the SDLT relief or do we need to establish a formal Partnership first. If we do establish a Partnership first is there a set period of time we need to wait before moving to the Limited Company to claim SDLT relief.

Hi,
Please contact the Stamp Duty Land Tax team for advice.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Thank you.