Sign a shareholders agreement electronically

Can a shareholders agreement be signed electronically?

Yes. The Swedish Companies Act (2005:551) sets no form requirement for a shareholders agreement, and under article 25.1 of the eIDAS regulation (910/2014) an electronic signature may not be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic.

The practical problem with shareholders agreements is rarely the law. It is geography. Four co-owners, three cities, one person on parental leave, and an investor who needs the document before the board meeting.

Everyone gets their own link to the same document. You can see who has signed and who has not opened the email yet.

How does a shareholders agreement differ from the articles of association?

The articles of association are the public rulebook of the company and must be registered. Under chapter 3 section 5 of the Companies Act, a decision to amend the articles must be reported for registration immediately and may not be carried into effect before it has been registered. The shareholders agreement is a contract between the owners and is registered nowhere.

It also means the shareholders agreement binds the people who signed it. That is why it matters that every co-owner really did sign, and that you can show when.

An agreement missing two of five signatures is not an agreement between five people.

What does a shareholders agreement usually cover?

Pre emption and transfer restrictions, voting on important questions, what happens when an owner wants to sell or stops working in the company, and competition and confidentiality.

Write out what happens on death, divorce and buyout. Those clauses feel remote on the day you start and decisive on the day they apply.

The confidentiality part works best when it is concrete. If you are sharing calculations and customer lists with a possible investor, that belongs in an NDA signed separately.

How do you send a shareholders agreement to several owners?

Upload the agreement, add every co-owner, place one signature field per person and send. Each gets a personal link, and the document is sealed when the last one has signed.

1. Upload the agreement

   The shareholders agreement as a PDF, in the version everyone signs.

2. Add the owners

   Name and email for every party.

3. Place the fields

   One signature field and one date field per owner.

4. Send

   Everyone gets their own link and can sign from different cities or countries.

5. Sealed

   When the last signature lands the document is sealed and everyone receives the same PDF.

How many companies does this concern?

In the first quarter of 2026, 21,320 new companies were registered in Sweden, 15 percent more than the same period a year earlier, according to Tillväxtanalys. The Swedish Companies Registration Office holds records on more than one million Swedish companies.

Every company with more than one owner benefits from a shareholders agreement, and most write it only after something has already happened.

Write it while you agree. Sign it while everyone still answers email.

What does it cost to sign a shareholders agreement electronically?

The first three contracts are free. After that Core is 90 EUR per year. Business costs 180 EUR per user per year.

The number of signers on a document does not change the price. See pricing or send the agreement to your co-owners.