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Shareholders Agreement

BUY AGREEMENT

HOW IT WORKS

01

Order the agreement.

You will be provided with a form. Fill out the form with the requested information.
Do not worry if you are not sure about how to answer certain questions. You will get the chance to discuss with our lawyers.

02

One of our lawyers will reach out to you to schedule an initial 30-minute call.
During that call we will seek to learn more about your business and the main issues of concern.

03

Our lawyers will get working producing the 1st draft of your bespoke agreement based on the information you have given us.
The draft will be ready within 2-3 business days following our initial call.

04

A second 30-minute call scheduled. In that call our lawyers will explain the most important provisions and will answer your
questions.
You will have the chance to request changes during the call or after via email.

05

The second and final draft will be delivered to you within 2 business days.
Instructions as to how to sign it in order to give it legal effect will be
included.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

On previous article we covered the reasons for having a Shareholders’ Agreement in more detail. In summary, the main purpose of a Shareholders’ Agreement is to provide certainty as to the rights and obligations of each party. As time goes by and the company starts generating revenue different people take different approaches to how this revenue should be used. This has the potential to strain relationships and make it difficult to run the business.

Studies have found that disharmony between the team is one of the top reasons why start-ups fail. Getting a Shareholders Agreement can go a long way to preventing that and making your start-up a success.
As a shareholder you want to ensure i) the company is governed fairly, ii) that the right people exert the right amount of control over the company’s long-term future, iii) that any dividends and salary policy is clear from the get-go, iv) that major decisions are made with adequate consent and not by the majority shareholder only, and, v) should more capital be required and new shareholders are introduced, your shareholding will not be diluted if you have not agreed that it should be so.
Furthermore, having a Shareholders Agreement is a sign that your company is to be taken seriously as you clearly have put some thought into the governance arrangements, the obligations of the founders, the ongoing profit-sharing model, and paths to a, hopefully very profitable, exit.
At Chic Consultants we assist dozens of start-ups every single week – many of them having the foresight to wish to put a Shareholder Agreement in place. We are experts at what we do and that is why we can offer authoritative advice at unbeatable price

Get a bespoke shareholders' agreement

695.00

BUY AGREEMENT

ABOUT THE DOCUMENT

FOUNDERS’ SHAREHOLDERS AGREEMENT – from £695

For 2-4 shareholders who will all be involved in the business on a part or full time basis this package is likely to cover their needs.

The package includes:

  • A questionnaire to be completed by you with necessary details and preferences,
  • 30 minute phone or Zoom meeting with a partner to discuss your answers to the questionnaire, First draft of the Shareholders Agreement,
  • Another 30 minute phone or Zoom meeting with a partner to discuss your draft and any questions you may have,
  • Second a final draft of the Shareholders Agreement ready for signing by your company’s shareholders.

The agreement will include provisions relating to:

  • Capital contributions and relationship between shareholders
  • Business of the company
  • Directors – duties and rights and who gets to appoint and remove them
  • Accounts and information rights of shareholders
  • Dividend policy of the company
  • Obligations of the company to shareholders
  • Founders’ obligations (for example not to resign within a certain period, not to declare dividends outside dividend policy, not to alter the share capital without prior consent)
  • Pre-emption rights for transfer and allotment of shares (meaning dilution or not)
  • How is Intellectual Property treated (pre-existing and/or subsequent)
  • Actions requiring shareholder consent and the level of that consent (unanimous, 75%+, 66.6%+, 50%+) Restrictive covenants on shareholders
  • Confidentiality
  • Business plan
  • Exit or departure of existing shareholder

INVESTOR SHAREHOLDERS AGREEMENT – from £1,000. Please contact us

Often investors would require additional protections (as per our previous article). If there one or more angel or VC investors, or you simply require more specific provisions such as:
  • Tag along / drag along rights
  • Conditional permitted share transfers
  • Limitation of actions from former shareholders
  • Deadlock provisions
  • Veto rights for founders or investors
  • Different share classes and interaction between them
  • Valuation methodology of shares upon exit of existing shareholder(s)

WHY CHIC CONSULTANTS

At Chic Consultants we believe in entrepreneurs. We were entrepreneurs ourselves and understand the cost constraints but also the desire to create something with a solid foundation.
Our lawyers have worked with businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to multi-billion mega-corporates. So they know the type of issues and what the cost-benefit analysis is for each client.
This is why we want to offer the Shareholders’ Agreement, a foundational document whichever lawyer you ask, at such a low price.
As to how we can offer it at such a low price? That is because our lawyers are
a) experts in their chosen fields so things get done quickly and efficiently,
b) they are very commercial so they will not charge for negotiating minor points that are not important to you or your business, and
c) they believe in embracing technology and new ways of doing law.
Feel free to check out the backgrounds of our main partners here.

GET YOUR SHAREHOLDER AGREEMENT

BUY AGREEMENT

Through our many years of experience in big companies we realised that there is a better way to provide legal services.

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