Do you have a Shareholder agreement in your company?

Shareholders

How many shareholders do you have in your company?

If its only one then the preparation is simple however most companies will have more than one shareholder if so do all shareholders agree to a sale?

what if the sale price is not agreed by all shareholders?

Do you have a shareholder agreement? if not this is a wise move so that you can be sure that all parties are on the same page.

Do you have multiple companies? if so how will that impact a potential sale? and how will each shareholder for the companies in the group impact, hinder or block a possible sale.

If you have a good shareholder agreement that will include a predetermined valuation method then the chances for disagreement will be lessened or at least one party can buy out another party.

A lesson I learned many years ago where I was in a partnership with someone in a 50/50 shareholding and no written shareholder agreement, so long story short my partner wanted to buy the balance of the company at a value that was not realistic  or anywhere close to fair market value and would not sell his shares to me so he forced the company into a voluntary liquidation then proceed to buy the company at a fraction of the price from the liquidators.

End result is it cost more than $100,000 for this lesson, and as things worked out I had a new company with 100% ownership and 90% of the business back within a year.

As Ronald Reagan is famous for saying “Trust but Verify!” so Trust your partner and be professional to create a solid shareholder agreement that will cover any potential change in the circumstances for the future. cover all the what if’s that may occur.

You must ensure you have a buy sell agreement in place even in the case that something happens to your partner and their relative becomes your partner then this could become a huge issue..