STAK, Coop and N.V

The best investors are you stakeholders! They already have a stake in your success. Your customers, your employees, partners, distributors, franchisees, suppliers. If you agree then a STAK or Coop is likely the right setup.

In the Netherlands legal transfer of ownership is required to be done through a Notary deed for Limited Company shares.

The STAK,  Stichting Administratie Kantoor and the Coöperatie as legal entities enable legal transfer of ownership without the need for a Notary deed. The STAK exists to certify share to certificates of shares. In the case of a Coöperatie the equity consists out of membership rights. Both entities allow for profit sharing.

Stichting Administratiekantoor
A STAK is a Trust Office - a foundation which administers the Certificates in Shares of a Private/Limited Company. The STAK is the most commonly used legal entity if you want people to participate or invest in your company (B.V). Also if your plan is to setup an Employee Stock Ownership Plan or a Stakeholder/Customer Participation Plan then Administratively the issuance of certificates to employees or third parties in a STAK is relatively simple.

Once shares are certificated you can easily distribute the Certificates. As such holders and investors can profit in the value development of the shares and dividend distribution. Certificate holders generally speak as a single voice through the board of the STAK as a single shareholder in the General Meeting of shareholders. Most commonly the voting and meeting rights stay with the management of the STAK.

The Coöperatie (Cooperative)A Coöperatie is an entity managed and financed by members. Legally the Coöperatie is very flexibel. It is effectively a hybride between an association and a company or partnership.
Its mission and goals you can decide freely and as such there are multiple sorts of Coöperaties. The main consideration in relation to Eyevestor is whether the Coöperatie is an operating company or a multi-stakeholder Coöperatie, where you can access third parties to participate in the capital of the Coöperatie. By giving the possibility to allow to exit you make it possible to participate without the Coöperatie loses capital. Facilitating trading gives the opportunity for liquidity, with liquidity being crucial to get value recognised.

There are multiple forms of Coöperaties. The main differentiation we make at Eyevestor is recognising
what we call the Investor Coöperatie and the Werk Coöperatie. Whereby the Werk Coöperatie in fact is equal to the Operating Company and the Investor Coöperatie is equal to the STAK.

Coöperatie or STAK or an NV
Together, with our Notary, we happily discuss your situation and we can help you decide which entity type best suits your situation. We are happy either way.

The 'Naamloze Vennootschap (Public Limited Company) enables ownership transfer of shares without the Notary. Traditionally the NV shares are bearer shares. With Eyevestor also NV shares are registered.
The NV is the most widely used for large share ownership and effectively always used by exchange traded companies. Abroad you see NVs used more regularly then in the Netherlands, also when they are not exchange traded. The NV requires issued and paid-up capital of €45,000.

The table below we highlight the main differences and considerations of the legal entities available for (semi)public Eyeventures.