Solicitor Reviews

Business Purchases: Share Purchase Risk Management

Business Purchases / Short form Share Purchase Agreements

I was looking to get investors involved in a start up in short order. Those responsible for fundraising this investment decided that they needed to acquire the company in which I was a shareholder. They sent me a "short form" share purchase agreement that ran to over 70 pages. I got to about page 20 but there was so much text to read that I couldn't see where the bombshells were that I was being told was normal and usual for this sort of agreement.

I turned to Leigh Ellis of Hall Ellis Lawyers to go through the agreement tell me what I needed to look out for. Once I was told how share purchase agreement are structured and how they work, I realised that my risk profile wasn't as small as I had been told it was. It could ruin me if something didn't go the way the purchaser wanted it to. Leigh straightened up the contract so that I could stand by it and cleaned up the black holes of unlimited liability. I don't have to look over my shoulder anymore.

Business Legal Advice - Covering Business Risk

New Laws in Force

"I was aware that some new laws had come into play that were going to affect my business, but it was all a little confusing. A colleague referred me to Hall Ellis Solicitors.

They were really helpful in providing me with some clarity, I received concise and understandable legal advice from them, just what you need when you’re not legally minded.

During our discussions I was advised of other risks that may potentially impact my business which I wasn’t even aware of, this was the real value add. I would recommend Hall Ellis Solicitors and will certainly be using their services again should the need arise."

Short Punchy Advice

Not over the Top

We run a popular online game. We want short punchy advice which is to the point. That is what we mostly get. Sometimes Leigh gets a bit longwinded, but that is the law sometimes. He needs to tell us where we are at risk in what we want to do.

We have asked other lawyers to look at something, and get an A4 summary and they spend 40 hours on it. There's no way to know who spent these 40 hours on what. There's not that much you can do about it. Leigh is effective, fairly priced in the sense that I don't feel overcharged. There's a correlation between what he does and what we pay, in the sense of transparency. It is reassuring that we are getting value for money.

When I see lawyers boasting about international blue-chip companies they represent I don’t bother myself to contact them. We’re a small business and we cannot sustain the way they pile resources in and over-deliver with advice that we can’t use and does not help. One of the drivers for using a small firm such as Leigh’s is that it does not go over the top. If we want more detail, all we need to do is ask.

This guy really knows the software business, knows what he is doing and does his best to make deals work.