Questions & Answers
Forcing successors to sell inherited company shares
Hi Rajasree,
My name is Ahmed A., I reside in Canada with my family.
8 years ago, my father passed away in Dubai. He has an Auto garage with shares with a local partner and my two uncles, with my father and the local partner having the majority of share at 24% and 51%.
Soon after my dad passed away, we got our inheritance papers made at Dubai Courts. It's been 8 years since we got even a penny from my uncles. Now, they are pushing us to sell our shares below the market value.
They are being very hostile towards us, threatening us if we do not sell, they can have the trade license terminated. I am a Chef here in Kingston, Ontario.
It is very hard for me to drop everything and chase matters in Dubai. Please advise if the threats are true and I should sell my shares.
If you can email, it will be greatly helpful.
Thank you
Ahmed A.
Dear Questioner,
Thanks for your inquiry.
If you, as the legal heirs of your late father and current shareholders of the company, wish to exit and your uncles' wish is to acquire such shares and cannot agree on a fair value for the company shares, you have the right to request an external auditor to review the company's past years of performance and evaluate the shares of the company.
If this is not enough and you are still in conflict, you may seek the help of the court to appoint an independent expert who would do the job assessing the current market value of the company.
Of course, such a process is rather costly and time-consuming. So, we would recommend you to try to find a middle ground between you and your uncles to have access to the books to qualify their assumption of the shares value.
At the same time, you should realize that reaching a legal conflict would rather complicate both the family and the business relationship, and since you are away you will be the most losing party.
I would suggest that you find an amicable solution and perhaps we can assist you in the withdrawal of the company process to try to control as much as we can to ensure you get the fair market value for your shares.
Best regards,
Ahmed Elnaggar
ae@elnaggarlegal.com
