Legal process & documentation
What legal documents are likely to be required in order to finalise the investment?
The following legal documents have been produced by the BBAA Technical Committee, with the specific expertise of Eversheds LLP, Harbottle & Lewis LLP and MBM Commercial LLP.
Once the investment terms have been agreed, these terms will be reflected in long-form documents which will typically comprise those set out below:
- Investment and shareholders’ agreement: this document sets out the terms of the investment and regulates the relationship of the shareholders once the investment has been completed. It will address the specific rights of the Angel Investor(s), such as rights to appoint directors, to receive information on the business and to veto certain actions of the company as well as usually containing warranties as to the company’s business. A model form investment and shareholders’ agreement appears on the BBAA’s website and further information on this document is outlined in more detail elsewhere in these FAQs.
- Articles of association: typically, new articles of association are adopted on completion of the funding which will set out the company’s internal regulations and deal with its management and administration. They deal with matters such as transfers of shares, dividends and voting rights, and complement the investment and shareholders’ agreement. Again, precedent articles of association appear on the BBAA’s website and further information on this document is set out in other FAQs.
You can download templates of these documents by clicking on the titles.
