Minority shareholders' rights

If there is a dispute between shareholders in your company, or you are planning on issuing shares to employees, family members or an outside investor, your first step is to find out what minority rights they have, or will have.

The Companies Act gives each shareholder in a company certain rights which vary depending on the percentage of shares in the company owned by the shareholder. Click here to see a table of rights that usually attach to different holdings of shares in your company.

The shareholders' rights in the table apply to companies limited by shares - the rules are different for companies limited by guarantee. It also assumes that the company only has one class of share. If your company is a guarantee company, or has more than one class of share, contact us.

In some cases, your company's articles of association may vary the usual rules. Always check the articles for unusual rules.

Always take legal advice immediately if a shareholder dispute might end in legal proceedings, or you plan to issue shares and create minority shareholders.