How to decode critical parts of a shareholders’ agreement

Quick poll: How many of you actually go through all terms and conditions in a legal document when it’s presented to you? I, for one, don’t give them a thorough read, and I’m sure many of you probably just skim through the T&C, too.

Dealing with legal jargon is a pain and, quite honestly, a waste of my time. But not if you’re a startup founder: Parsing through legal protection documents can seem tiresome, but they are the cornerstones of establishing a tenable business.

One critical document is the shareholders’ agreement, which some founders pay little attention to. This is perhaps due to its daunting nature or budget constraints. Or it could even be because the document is viewed as largely unnecessary since it is likely to be changed by future investors. However, by putting it on the backburner, founders could find themselves, their partners, and their business being exposed to risk should disputes arise.

If you’ve been struggling to decode a shareholders’ agreement and its implications, here’s a virtual workshop on July 27 that you shouldn’t miss.

It will be hosted by Ferish Patel, partner-in-charge at Cooley’s Singapore office. A financing veteran of Southeast Asia, Patel has worked on numerous significant transactions involving in GGV Capital and Monk’s Hill Venture as well as Grab’s landmark blank-check merger, among others.

During the workshop, you’ll learn:

• Information on what to include and what to omit in a shareholders’ agreement
• Tips on reading and understanding legal jargon in a shareholders’ agreement
• The most common mistakes that creep into a shareholders’ agreement and could harm your business
• The role of a shareholders’ agreement in the fundraising process
• The different types of shareholders’ agreements and how they vary from region to region

About the speaker

It will be hosted by Ferish Patel, partner-in-charge at Cooley’s Singapore office and a veteran of Southeast Asia’s venture capital scene. He has worked on several significant VC-backed transactions across ASEAN, including the landmark deSPAC of Grab; the IPO of Coupang; the sale of Flipkart to Walmart; and fundraises by Carousell, FinAccel, Holmusk, Hummingbird, Meesho and PhonePe, among others.

This wealth of transactional experience has allowed him to lend strategic guidance to founders, high-growth companies, and investment funds on corporate matters in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the US. In doing so, he has assisted clients in raising over US$100 billion in public and private financing that involved both equity and debt capital. He has practiced in New York, India, Hong Kong and Singapore, and has been based in Asia for 10 years.

Event details

Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Time: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. SGT
Venue: Virtual

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