Shareholder, partnership and joint venture agreements

We provide clear, practical advice to anyone setting up a new company, business, joint venture or partnership, and to existing businesses reviewing their governance and ownership arrangements.

It is essential to agree in advance who will run and control the business, who will be entitled to take certain decisions on behalf of the business, and what will happen if one party wants to exit. We can prepare an agreement to regulate your business relationship and advise on how to structure your business and plan for the future.

We appreciate that your priority is running your business and not managing a complex partnership document. We will provide you with a clear document in plain English, and make sure you are not bogged down with unnecessary paperwork.

Client expertise

We advise a wide range of businesses including large corporates, small to medium size enterprises, professional and creative partnerships and family businesses.

Recent examples of our work include:

• advising the Ilchester Estate in connection with its joint venture arrangements with Chelsfield Partners for the redevelopment of 224 Kensington High Street, a landmark residential development which also accommodates the Design Museum
• setting up a residential property investment fund as a joint venture using an offshore limited partnership
• acting for a tech start-up developing email marketing software optimising language used in subject lines, on an approximately £1 million fundraising round involving a consortium of existing investors and a new investor, Next Fifteen Communications Group Plc (a digital communications group) which became the single largest investor shareholder
• acting for a number of professional firms on joint ventures involving the hiving off and merging of business divisions
• developing solutions for succession planning issues arising for professional partnerships, including various types of ‘ring-fencing’ arrangements which allow incoming partners to participate in a company’s shares without having to find a large amount of capital