Corporate lawyers

What services do our corporate solicitors provide?

From start-up through to investment, acquisition and sale, Stephensons’ focused team works with directors, shareholders and lenders to deliver local, accessible and knowledgeable services including:

• Asset sales and purchases
• Charity law
• Company corporate structures
• Corporate governance
• Due diligence
• Private equity investment & capital
• Management buy-out or management buy-in
• Mergers, acquisitions & disposals
• Preparing a business for sale
• Share sales and purchases
• Strategic transactions

Funding

Stephensons’ access to business financing and funding streams will support your corporate legal services. We’re happy to discuss alternative funding options, including insurance and external funding to help your transaction move forward.  

Recent case examples

• We acted for an existing client in drafting a time and performance EMI share scheme. This involved early liaising with the client’s tax advisor and existing directors and advising on the options for the client to adopt.  The aim was to incentivise and retain the management team. We then drafted scheme rules, the agreement, amended the articles and prepared advisory documents for the client’s current management team.
   
• Acting for a company in selling a controlling interest in the company to a newly formed Employee Ownership Trust. The client had an excellent team and was a good candidate for an EOT structure. Nevertheless we spent some time pre-instruction mapping out the work and agreeing a step by step approach.  The work included the share sale work, trust creation, protection of deferred consideration, amendments to the company articles and shareholders agreement and creation of new share classes.  
   
• Shareholders agreement: In this case, a client was acquiring the entire share capital of a target company and wished to retain the key personnel who were instrumental in the company's success. To ensure their continued involvement, the client structured a shareholders' agreement that granted minority shares to these key employees. The agreement outlined provisions to protect the client’s majority interest, while offering incentives for the retained personnel, including restricted share transfer provisions, non-compete clauses, and employment terms tied to their shareholding. This structure allowed the client to benefit from the team's expertise while aligning their interests with the long-term growth of the company.
   
• Commercial contracts: Our client required a hire agreement for the leasing of trailers to commercial clients. The agreement included terms specifying the duration of hire, payment schedules, and maintenance obligations to ensure the trailers remained in optimal condition. Additionally, liability and insurance clauses were incorporated to protect the client from potential risks and clarify the responsibilities of each party throughout the rental period