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Filter: Shareholder
Prescription and surety don’t always play well together

06 January 2021

Our company is owed money by one of our contractor companies who we helped with finance and provided us with... personal sureties by the shareholders as security for the transaction. They have been making promises that they will pay for some time and we left it, but now we are getting worried about prescription. We are also unsure whether if we act against the sureties, prescription will be halted for the contractor or may continue and we lose our claim against the company itself. Can you advise?

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Article
The rights of a dissenting shareholder in a scheme of arrangement

10 November 2020

I’m a minority shareholder in a company that has been approached by a buyer willing to buy out all the... shareholders. Because of Covid-19 the company has suffered financially and I know that the shareholders holding more than 75% of the company will want to accept the offer even though I believe it to be far below the market value of the shares. Is there any remedy at my disposal?

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309
Article
Validity of lock-in provisions in BEE transactions

11 September 2020

A few years ago, our company entered into a BEE transaction with BEE partners to address our ownership. In the... transaction documents, restrictions were imposed on the BEE partners that they could not sell or encumber their shares for a period of at least ten years. These lock-in provisions were a necessary part of the financing and overall transaction. With the current difficult economic times, our partners want to sell a portion of their shares and are disputing the validity of our lock-in provisions. Are lock-in provisions legally enforceable?

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377
Article
Is it out with the boardroom table and in with online meetings?

10 July 2020

Our company has for years prided itself on regular board and shareholder meetings as the basis for the success of... our business. Initially we stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic but have started meeting again using online meeting tools. With the pandemic continuing we are worried that we are not meeting the requirements of the Companies Act by not meeting in person. We have no other choice right now. Is it acceptable from a compliance perspective?

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263
Article
The liability of company directors for decreases in a company’s share price

11 November 2019

I’m the only shareholder in my company, a cleaning products business. I have two directors who run the business for... me. I’ve been building up the business over the years with a view to selling it as my retirement plan. However, the auditors have just informed me that the shares, in my mind worth about R10 million are now worth no more than about R3 million because of reckless management by the directors, selling of assets and even falsifying financial information and accounts. The nest egg I’ve been building is now nearly worthless because of their conduct. Can I recover what my company is worth less from them?

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Article

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