How our corporate law team can help

Our corporate solicitors are experienced in acting for both shareholders and investors in respect of shareholder arrangements and articles of association whether this be in relation to start ups, established companies or investments.

We ensure that we tailor the documents to suit your commercial objectives and that we take care of both your immediate and future needs with a view to furthering your business’ corporate success.

What are shareholders’ agreements and articles of association?

A shareholders’ agreement is a private agreement made between the shareholders of a company setting out their rights and obligations in respect of the governance of the company. In contrast, a company’s articles of association form part of its constitution and are required to be made publicly available at Companies House.

It is important that a shareholders’ agreement and the company’s articles of association work together and complement each other, and that the terms of the two documents are consistent. There are some provisions which are more appropriately included within one document and not the other and our corporate solicitors can advise accordingly.

The importance of a shareholders’ agreement and the company’s articles of association

Whilst shareholders’ agreements can be very flexible in their content and are required to be tailored to each company’s needs, the shareholders’ agreement and articles of association will often include some, or all of, the following provisions:

• Majority and minority shareholder protections
• Dividend policy
• Rights to be a director
• The appointment and removal of directors
• A list of decisions that are reserved to a certain percentage of the shareholders
• Pre-emption rights
• Permitted share transfers
• Compulsory share transfer events
• Drag and tag rights
• Restrictive covenants