Ownership Governance

Owners in a Family-Owned Business have several roles and motivations that can sometimes lead to conflicting opinions. For example, a decision to reinvest profits in the company instead of distributing them as dividends can be differently seen by the various owners depending on their other roles in the business. 

To promote sustainable value creation, owners should strive to establish a fit Legal Structure and other Key Policies that address the following dimensions:

• Direction, which refers to decisions relating to setting the strategy of the enterprise
• Control, which refers to overseeing the management’s performance on strategy
• Relationship, which refers to formalizing the interactions and decisions among the owners, the directors and the managers

Sample Work Contributed

• Advised and executed a Trust solution whereby the UAE Family Enterprise is transferred to a trustee to look after on behalf of designated beneficiaries 
• Advised on introducing “HoldCo” to separate ownership from management and established the role and functions of “HoldCo”. Drafted shareholders’ protocols including ownership eligibility, reserved matters, transfer of shares, board role, composition, and meetings for several medium to large-sized Saudi and regional Family-Owned Businesses