Business partnership but being frozen out

jcarver007

Hi all,

Looking for some advice from any of you who have had experience of this sort of thing.
Ive gone into a limited partnership and the business is trading in the UK. The other partner is in Spain. Its a 60/40 split in his favour.

We have since had some disagreements and some profitable opportunities have been cancelled by the other partner. Things have soured and they have expressed their view that they want me to leave the partnership. One of the profitable avenues for our business that I have set up he has blocked me from having any dealings with including communications.

As things have turned so sour I am looking to see how I can recoup the money I have put into the business. They are saying that I should not receive any because the money I have put in has mostly gone on stock that has been sold. This seems bizarre as they are expecting me to walk away with nothing and the business continues on. Seems a win win for the other partner and not for me which is riduculous.

Can I make the other partner pay me back the full amount I have invested? What steps do I need to take and is court the only avenue to take?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

MattMattMattUK

jcarver007 said:

Hi all,

Looking for some advice from any of you who have had experience of this sort of thing.
Ive gone into a limited partnership and the business is trading in the UK. The other partner is in Spain. Its a 60/40 split in his favour.

LLP? UK legal entity, or Spanish legal entity trading in the UK? How is the 60/40 split structured? 

jcarver007 said:

We have since had some disagreements and some profitable opportunities have been cancelled by the other partner. Things have soured and they have expressed their view that they want me to leave the partnership. One of the profitable avenues for our business that I have set up he has blocked me from having any dealings with including communications.

How has he stopped the partnership bidding for business? How has he blocked you? 

jcarver007 said:

As things have turned so sour I am looking to see how I can recoup the money I have put into the business. They are saying that I should not receive any because the money I have put in has mostly gone on stock that has been sold. This seems bizarre as they are expecting me to walk away with nothing and the business continues on. Seems a win win for the other partner and not for me which is riduculous.

What assets does the business currently have?

jcarver007 said:

Can I make the other partner pay me back the full amount I have invested? 

No, because that is not how investments work.

jcarver007 said:

What steps do I need to take and is court the only avenue to take?

That depends on the assets in the business, the structure, the remuneration agreed upon, a contract of employment if you have one etc.

Hoenir

Obtain proper legal advice. 

jcarver007

MattMattMattUK said:

jcarver007 said:

Hi all,

Looking for some advice from any of you who have had experience of this sort of thing.
Ive gone into a limited partnership and the business is trading in the UK. The other partner is in Spain. Its a 60/40 split in his favour.

LLP? UK legal entity, or Spanish legal entity trading in the UK? How is the 60/40 split structured? 

jcarver007 said:

We have since had some disagreements and some profitable opportunities have been cancelled by the other partner. Things have soured and they have expressed their view that they want me to leave the partnership. One of the profitable avenues for our business that I have set up he has blocked me from having any dealings with including communications.

How has he stopped the partnership bidding for business? How has he blocked you? 

jcarver007 said:

As things have turned so sour I am looking to see how I can recoup the money I have put into the business. They are saying that I should not receive any because the money I have put in has mostly gone on stock that has been sold. This seems bizarre as they are expecting me to walk away with nothing and the business continues on. Seems a win win for the other partner and not for me which is riduculous.

What assets does the business currently have?

jcarver007 said:

Can I make the other partner pay me back the full amount I have invested? 

No, because that is not how investments work.

jcarver007 said:

What steps do I need to take and is court the only avenue to take?

That depends on the assets in the business, the structure, the remuneration agreed upon, a contract of employment if you have one etc.

Hi Matt,

Its an LLP. We have a contract with a Spanish company as for all intents and purposes its a franchise as we buy stock from Spain and use their business name.
We are registed with companies house in the UK.

As we are family we went no further than agreeing a 60/40 split. Unfortunately we did not outline what this would be.

New  opportunites for b2b that I have suggested to the other partner have been  refused.

I have been removed from group communication relating to one of the only profitable outlets we have that I set up.

The only assets are the website and stock.

Obviously I do not want to turn my back on the business after putting in so much money and feel their reasons for wanting to force me out are based on their wish to monopolize the profits (both current and future).

Thankyou

penners324

Ask how much they're willing to offer to buy you out.

martindow

Could you pursue the new B2B opportunity you mention on your own?  I can't imagine that you want to continue being linked with your partner after recent experiences.

jcarver007

The B2B opportunity was linked to the products we sell as they liked them so much. Our supplier is only selling to us and would not sell to a seperate company if I was to set one up.

Tricky situation.

jcarver007

Can the other business partner remove me as a director on Companies House?