Inquiry proceedings & shareholder disputes
The Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals may order an investigation into a legal entity’s policies and the general course of its affairs if there are well-founded reasons for doubting those policies’ propriety. At the time of such an order – or earlier – the court may, in connection with the entity’s condition or in the interest of the investigation, take immediate measures. These can include the appointment or removal of directors and/or supervisory board members and the suspension of voting rights. Typical situations in which intervention by the Enterprise Chamber occurs are: a deadlock or other impasse within the entity’s corporate bodies, abuse by a shareholder, conflicts of interest and situations in which there is a need for fact-finding following an entity’s bankruptcy.
About Inquiry proceedings & shareholder disputes
The Lexence litigation team is highly experienced in advising and representing companies, directors, supervisory board members and shareholders in this specialized area of corporate litigation.
The team also regularly acts, where appropriate in cooperation with valuators, in the various other proceedings under Dutch law aimed at settling shareholder disputes. These include squeeze-out proceedings, sell-out proceedings, arbitrations and binding-advice proceeding
Relevant experience
- Represented a trust office director in inquiry proceedings between two shareholders of a joint venture company;
- Represented the majority shareholder in inquiry proceedings in which the minority shareholders sought to block the company’s delisting;
- Represented various minority shareholders in a dispute with the other shareholders about, among other things, an alleged lack of transparency and financial mismanagement, resulting in an amicable buyout;
- Assisted a company in arranging emergency financing;
- Acted for the bidders in various squeeze-out proceedings following successful public takeover bids.