SPA - Group
The Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) is the principal legal document for a share purchase transaction.  We have different forms available, depending on the structure and terms of the transaction.
This section includes SPAs for the purchase of a corporate group for a transaction to be structured as either:
- simultaneous exchange and completion
- split exchange and completion, with conditions to completion
For additional forms of Share Purchase Agreements, including agreements for a single company, sales by multiple sellers and transactions with either completion accounts or earn-out consideration click SPA – Single Company.Â
What are the main features of a Share Purchase Agreement?
The Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) is the principal legal document for a share purchase transaction.
The first draft SPA is usually prepared by the buyer. An exception is in the case of a competitive auction process, where the seller may provide a draft SPA for review and comment by the competing bidders for the company.
The main features of an SPA are:
- sale and purchase: the mechanics for the sale and purchase of the target company shares and closing of the transaction
- conditions: any conditions that need to be satisfied prior to closing
- consideration: the consideration to be paid by the buyer, including the form of consideration (cash, shares or a combination), upfront consideration paid on closing, deferred consideration, earnout consideration and adjustment for the net assets of the target company on the business of completion accounts
- warranties: warranties from the seller about the target company, its business, finances, assets, intellectual property, contracts, liabilities and tax history
- indemnities: any specific indemnities identified during the due diligence and disclosure process and, usually, a tax indemnity relating to pre-closing tax liabilities and compliance
- restrictive covenants: covenants prohibiting the seller from competing with the target company and soliciting the target company’s customers, suppliers and employees for a period following closing of the transaction