Shareholder Agreements: A Practical Guide
WEB213NZA25: Join a leading expert panel of corporate and commercial practitioners as they offer valuable insights on preparing shareholder agreements, exit provisions and expert strategies for managing disputes. Don’t miss this highly regarded half-day seminar to pick up the skills you’ll need to master shareholder agreements.
Description
Attend and earn 3 CPD hours
Chair: Jonathan Wood, Partner, Morrison Kent
1.30pm to 1.35pm Opening Comments by the Chair
1.35pm to 2.30pm How to Prepare Shareholder Agreements: A Practical Guide
- Assessing the needs of your client(s) and is there any such thing as a simple Shareholders Agreement?
- Taking instructions from multiple parties
- Decision making: directors vs shareholders
- Fundamental provisions in a shareholders agreement
- Optional and sophisticated provisions in a shareholders agreement
- A brief word on new shareholders, accession and amendments to the shareholders agreement
Presented by Steven Dukeson, Proprietor, Dukesons Business Law
2.30pm to 3.25pm Exit Provisions and Other Key Considerations: What You Need to Know
- Why exit provisions are essential even though clients often don’t want to discuss them
- Common examples of exit provisions
- The importance of tailoring the exit provision to the type of business you are drafting for
Presented by Phoebe Davies, Partner, Wynn Williams
3.25pm to 3.35pm Break
3.35pm to 4.30pm Resolving Disputes Associated with Shareholder Agreements: Methodologies and the Latest Case Law
- Exploring the different methodologies
- Public courts
- Private arbitration
- Expert determination
- Mediation
- Multi-tier disputes clauses
- Latest case law
Presented by Timothy Lindsay, Partner, Lindsay & Francis
4.30pm to 4.40pm Final Q+A and Closing Comments by the Chair
Learning Objectives:
- Receive best practice guidance in preparing shareholder agreements
- Develop a more thorough understanding of exit provisions
- Consider the different dispute resolution methodologies and the latest case law
Presenters
Jonathan Wood, Partner, Morrison Kent
Jonathan is a business law expert, specialising in mergers and acquisitions; corporate governance; international trade, investment and joint ventures; commercial contracts; media and entertainment; business structures and shareholder arrangements. Jonathan advises on business acquisitions in a variety of industry sectors and in both New Zealand and overseas; In recent years Jonathan has advised on acquisitions in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Fiji as well as joint ventures in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Australia. Jonathan regularly advises on corporate governance issues and shareholder relationships and has over 20 years’ experience as either an executive or non-executive director of both New Zealand and overseas companies.
Steven Dukeson, Proprietor, Dukesons Business Law
Steve is a business lawyer in Auckland. He only acts for business clients, which include some law firms and accountants. He has expertise in relation to a range of business law or commercial law matters, as well as in some specialty areas of business law. He has a Masters Degree in Law with Honours (in contract law and commercial law) and has tutored and lectured in contract law and commercial law at Auckland University when doing his Masters. Many articles of his have been published in the past in legal periodicals and business publications. More information can be found on the Dukesons Business Law website: www.dukesons.co.nz
Phoebe Davies, Partner, Wynn Williams
Phoebe is a partner in the national Corporate & Commercial Team. She advises on a wide range of corporate and commercial law, including overseas investments, mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, shareholders’ agreements, corporate governance and commercial contracts. Phoebe acts for clients in a broad range of industry sectors with specialist knowledge in the agribusiness and consumer finance sectors. In addition to Phoebe's New Zealand experience, she has worked for international firms in both London and Birmingham in the United Kingdom, and is qualified to practice law in both New Zealand and England & Wales.
Timothy Lindsay, Partner, Lindsay & Francis
Tim is a commercial litigator and arbitration counsel and the founder and managing director of Lindsay, a law firm based in Auckland specialising in commercial disputes, both in litigation and arbitration. Prior to founding Lindsay in 2017, Tim was a partner in the London office of US law firm Dechert LLP, where he specialised in international arbitration, spanning both commercial and investor-state arbitration. Tim has substantial experience in shareholder disputes, both before the courts and in an arbitration setting, and will discuss today some of the pros and cons of those processes.