Without a shareholders agreement a minority shareholder one owning less than 50 of the shares will generally on their own have little control or say in the running of the company companies are generally run by majority decision and even if the articles of association include provisions that protect the minority these can be changed via special resolution by holders of 75 of the voting . A shareholders agreement is a contract between all the shareholders of a company which sets out the shareholders relationships with each other the directors and the company you are not required by law to implement a shareholders agreement but it is an essential aspect of structuring a new or newly acquired company to avoid disruption if disagreements arise later down the line. The purpose of a shareholders agreement is to regulate the relationship of the parties as shareholders give shareholders certain protections they would not otherwise have under general company law what does a shareholders agreement cover shareholder agreements vary enormously however a typical shareholders agreement would be . Commercial solutions shareholder agreements shareholder agreements shareholder agreements if you are the owner or manager of a company with more than one shareholder then you are likely to benefit from having a shareholders agreement to sit alongside your articles of association the reason is that while your articles will provide you with a basic road map for dealing with company