Dispute Analysis & Litigation Support

How do you deal with disputes between shareholders and joint venture partners?

Transaction and shareholder disputes
Disputes with shareholders and joint venture partners may arise as a result of differences of opinion concerning contractual liabilities, suspected fraud or negligence, and minority prejudice actions. In these or other cases, you might need advice on the drafting of completion accounts or earn-out mechanisms and processes.

Insurance claims
Ever-growing concentrations of capital and increasing interdependencies between business partners have had a dramatic effect on the complexity of insurance claims and stepped up the risk of disputes between policyholders, insurers and reinsurers.

Intellectual property
Intellectual property and licensing disputes occur more often, as enforcing intellectual property rights in the form of patents, trademarks and copyrights is essential to maintaining the value of a business.
 

The challenges you face

You have concluded an agreement that contains inadequate or ambiguous accounting definitions.

• You need advice on what is to be included/excluded from the completion accounts or earn-out accounts.
• You have a major insurance claim to deal with.
• Your lawyers say you need a quantum expert.
• You want a second opinion on a claim.
• You are involved in a dispute over an infringement of intellectual property and need to establish the extent of your losses and determine a reasonable royalty rate for the intellectual property in question.

 
How PwC can support you

• We act as an expert witness in litigation/arbitration providing expert evidence based on accounting, economic and financial analysis.
• We assist in drafting effective price adjustment mechanisms and advise on financial warranties in the draft sale and purchase agreement.
• We act as the independent accountant in the settlement of completion account disputes.
• We provide advice and testimony on liability and causation issues in matters involving negligence by accountants.
• We assist in mediation or arbitration proceedings, including preparing disagreement notifications and negotiations with other parties.
• We help reduce disruption to your business, and to customers, and save management time when you are confronted with a major dispute.
• We ensure your business has effective, value-for-money insurance policies.

Our profound understanding of dispute resolution and legal processes allows us to present facts effectively in a persuasive and compelling manner.