Disputes between founders: 7 clauses a shareholder agreement needs

When two friends set up a company, they take the charter from the registry’s sample. When the company grows and one of them wants to leave, sell or step back, the sample has no answer.

The 7 clauses we write in

• Which decisions need both shareholders to agree
• What happens when the vote is split
• The other shareholder’s first right to buy a share offered to an outsider
• How the value of a share is worked out
• Whether a shareholder may work for a competitor
• When and how profit is paid out
• Which court or arbitration hears a dispute

Writing the agreement when the company is set up is the cheapest way, while the founders still agree. Once a dispute starts, the same clauses take months of negotiation.

This article is general information. To have your own company’s charter reviewed, book a meeting with the corporate team.