Shareholders Agreement

[oatz]

Dear all,

I'm wanting to create a basic shareholders agreement between myself and my business partner with a few bespoke clauses for a ltd co property business. There are plenty of online options for circa £35 but I'm wary... I've spoken to a few solicitors who have quoted anything from £900 to £2.5k (+ VAT) for one. I'm also wary that a shareholders agreement is pretty much a copy and paste job for a solicitor too..

Can anyone advise on any decent online services or should we just stump-up for a solicitor?

Many thanks in advance

 

[Clinton]

It shouldn't cost that much. Get in touch with @The Resolver

 

[Clickdocs]

Hi oatz

We're one of those who offer a template Shareholder's Agreement. Ours is £24.95.

 

[oatz]

Clickdocs - do yours come with indemnity insurance?

 

[Clickdocs]

We, as a business have indemnity insurance. Is that what you mean? You can check us out on our website.

 

[ethical PR]

@oatz just do a search on here and you will see what happens when people don't have a proper shareholders agreement.

There are legal experts on here you can get a quote from.

Personally I wouldn't use an off the shelf template. Or at the least have a template and then get legal advice to tailor to your needs.

How can a template agreement have indemnity insurance BTW?

 

[Ozzy]

@oatz
I've been involved in a few business ventures and I've ALWAYS had a professionally drafted shareholders agreement. I've seen too many people on here and in RL where people have gone into business together and then fallen out - and its then got very messy because they didn't have a shareholders agreement.
Without a doubt those offered by @Clickdocs will be sufficient for many purposes but you must bear in mind they will be template, and one size fits many but maybe not all. Only you can decide if an online template document will suit your needs.
This is purely my personal view, but I like to sit down with a lawyer and talk though my business venture and have an agreement drafted bespoke for that business objectives, exit, and resolutions. Yes that costs few bob, but I person see that as a worthwhile investment.

 

[The Resolver]

Problems with a template Shareholders Agreement are:-

1 Clauses that may be important for your own company (because of the detail of the business, the detail of the personal relationships between the shareholders, the variations between the objectives/ambitions for the business of the individual shareholders etc etc ) may be absent and/or you could be left hammering a square peg into a round hole.

2. You need to understand the impact of the Articles of Association to avoid conflict with the SA.

3. More often than not there may be a lack of consensus between the shareholders over the terms of a SA.The reduction in the risk of internal conflict provided by a tailored SA helps the shareholders to work more positively together and thus the company achieve more success.

I charge a fixed £750 but not only does it provide a good fit for the clients and their company I also help avoid/resolve disputes over the content. Remember once signed, you need everyone to agree any subsequent changes. It must be right at the outset.