A family business is a business whose assets and governance are held by family members. The aim is to leave the business in the hands of the next family generation.
In a family business in Spain, the founders who are members of the family directly or indirectly own the majority of the votes. The governance of the company is usually entrusted to family representatives.
The family business operates in the same way as a Spanish limited company, but with some special features that must be set out in what is known as a family protocol. This document is equivalent to the shareholders’ agreement of commercial companies. It is a framework agreement, signed between the members of a family, which regulates the organisation and management of the family business, as well as the economic and professional relations between the family. All this is done with the aim of enabling the efficient and successful continuity of the business through the following family generations.