Articles of Association: equal 50/50 shareholders

As an accompaniment to a shareholders agreement between two equal shareholders, the shareholders should also consider adopting Articles of Association which reflect their equal shareholdings.  This document is the form of Articles of Association for a private limited company with two equal shareholders.

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When do I use this document?

  • for a company which is 50/50 owned by two equal shareholders
  • in conjunction with their Shareholders Agreement – for Paper Rock’s template 50/50 Shareholders Agreement, see Shareholders Agreement: equal 50/50 shareholders
  • for a private limited company incorporated in England and Wales

What are the key features?

  • form of new Articles of Association for the company
  • amendments and additions to the Companies Act 2006 Model Articles
  • process for the allotment of new shares
  • regulations governing the transfer of shares, including:
    • permitted transfers to defined classes of permitted transferees
    • pre-emption rights on the transfer of shares to third parties
    • compulsory transfer on a shareholder ceasing to be employed or breaching the shareholders agreement
    • tag-along and drag-along rights
  • regulation of shareholder meetings
  • as equal shareholders, rights of each shareholder to appoint an equal number of directors
  • provisions relating to the proceedings of board meetings
  • regulation of directors’ conflicts of interest and transactions with directors

What other documents are available?

For template Articles of Association where the company is owned by majority and minority shareholders, see

When do I use this document?

  • for a share sale transaction
  • where confidential information about the target company will be disclosed to a potential buyer
  • for a longer form NDA with strong legal protections for the seller and target company

What are the key features?

  • 17 clauses over 9 pages
  • definitions of Confidential Information and Proposed Transaction
  • confidentiality obligations
  • authorised recipients of Confidential Information 
  • circumstances permitting compulsory disclosure 
  • procedure for returning Confidential Information to the seller 
  • prohibition on the buyer poaching the target company’s employees
  • contractual remedies for breach of the NDA, including contractual indemnity in favour of the seller and target company
  • duration of agreement

What else do I need to know?

It’s quite common that some clauses of an NDA may be resisted by the receiving party. The guidance notes which accompany this document explain how provisions, such as the following, might be negotiated to reach mutual agreement.

    • non-solicitation covenants
    • a contractual indemnity for breach of the confidentiality obligations
    • the duration of the agreement

The guidance notes which accompany the document explain how these provisions might be negotiated to reach agreement.

What other docs are available?

For a shorter form of confidentiality agreement for a company sale transaction, see

Explanatory Guides

As with all of our document templates, your purchase will include access to clear explanatory guidance on the document and its use.

Updated by a lawyer on 21/07/2025

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