Our fees for preparing and drafting a shareholders' agreement start at £1,250 plus VAT. A Shareholders' Agreement helps protect the legal rights of all shareholders in a business and aims to ensure everyone is treated fairly.
Any company – whether organized as an LLC, Corporation, or partnership – with more than one shareholder, especially if they are actively involved in the business, should have a shareholder agreement.
How Much Control Does a 50% Shareholder Have? As we have explained in previous articles, the rights you have as a shareholder, including voting rights, depend on the percentage of shares you hold. The power to appoint and remove directors and approve final dividend payments requires a shareholding of 51% or more.
We have 5 steps. Step 1: Decide on the issues the agreement should cover. Step 2: Identify the interests of shareholders. Step 3: Identify shareholder value. Step 4: Identify who will make decisions - shareholders or directors. Step 5: Decide how voting power of shareholders should add up.
A shareholders agreement is a binding contract between the shareholders of a company, which governs the relationship between the shareholders and specifies who controls the company, how the company will be owned and managed, how shareholders' rights may be protected and how shareholders can exit the company.
What is included in a shareholder agreement? Decision making. The shareholder agreement states how business decisions are made. Joining the business. Provide for what happens in the event of death or incapacity. Settle internal disputes. Anticipating certain situations.
Drafting shareholder agreements without expert advice could put you at risk of including provisions which may be deemed by a court as invalid.
Many people wonder whether it is possible to write their own shareholders' agreement or whether a solicitor is required. We believe that it is quite possible to draw it yourself, provided that you use a good template as a basis (such as our own).
No notarization or filing of a shareholders' agreement is required.