Commentary Part 17: a Company’s Share Capital Chapter 2: Allotment of Shares: General Provisions Section 551: Power of directors to allot shares etc: authorisation by company
849.This section replaces section 80(1) and (3) to (8) of the 1985 Act and applies both to private companies which will have more than one class of shares after a proposed allotment and to public companies. It provides that the directors may only allot shares (or grant rights to subscribe for shares or to convert any security into shares) if they have been given prior authorisation for the proposed allotment by ordinary resolution of the company’s members or by the articles.
850.Subsections (2) to (5) set out details of the way in which prior authorisation (or a renewal of such authorisation) may be given and, in particular, provides that the authority may not be given for a period of more than five years. An authority given to the directors under this section, and any resolution of the company renewing such an authority, must state “the maximum amount of shares” to be allotted pursuant to the authority. This mirrors the formulation of words used in section 80 of the 1985 Act and enables the members to limit the authority to a specific number of shares or shares up to a given maximum nominal value.
851.Subsection (8) makes it clear that an ordinary resolution of the company’s members will suffice for the purposes of giving authority to the directors, even where the effect of the resolution is to alter the company’s articles of association (which would normally require a special resolution of the company’s members).