Private Equity Finance and Investment Agreements

Raising equity finance can be difficult, but, when it works, both investor and entrepreneur win. We can advise about how much control the entrepreneur should give up and what protections an investor should require. The key documents will be the articles of association, the investment agreement and the service contracts that the management may need. We will also help deal with checking that the company in which you are investing owns everything the investor expects it to have.

Private Equity covers a number of other areas of practice areas included within the Business Services Department: Acquisitions and Disposals, Joint venture and Corporate Finance. Private equity funds will usually invest on a three to five year plan and wish to dispose of their shareholding whether through a trade sale or flotation or listing of the shares on the Main Market or Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.

We are also able to alert private investors and business angels to the possible tax advantages of investing such as the enterprise investment scheme, the favourable tax treatment of business assets for inheritance and capital gains tax purposes and the availability of entrepreneurs relief to business owners. The legal process involved in making an investment can involve the investigation of the company’s assets and prospects, the negotiation of a share purchase agreement containing warranties about the state of the company and a shareholder agreement setting out the way in which the company will operate and the investor’s rights following the investment.

Please feel free to contact a member of our Business Services team to arrange a meeting: