header-logo header-logo

The flexible friend

20 January 2017 / Daniel Lightman KC
Issue: 7730 / Categories: Features , Company , Commercial
printer mail-detail
nlj_7730_lightman

Daniel Lightman QC highlights how versatile ss 994 & 996 of the Companies Act 2006 can be for minority shareholders presenting an unfair prejudice petition

  • The courts take a flexible approach to the requirements for an unfair prejudice petition to be well-founded under s 994 of the Companies Act 2006.
  • The courts show similar flexibility in exercising the wide powers given to them as to what relief they can grant under s 996, and against whom.
  • While a share purchase order is the most common relief granted, the courts are increasingly open to bespoke solutions tailored to the circumstances of the particular case.
  • These factors make a s 994 petition—or the threat of presenting one—an increasingly powerful and flexible weapon for a minority shareholder.

Recent case law has emphasised just how versatile a weapon the power to present an unfair prejudice petition under s 994 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) can be for a minority shareholder.

The requirements of s 994

By s 994(1) of CA 2006, the petitioning

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll