JobandTalent's founders are facing legal action after former shareholders through the company Cinainvest, launched a lawsuit alleging breach of contract over the sale of shares, reports CincoDías. Investors Pelayo Cortina Koplowitz and his father, Alberto Cortina, through the company Cinainvest Holding, brought the founders of the Spanish job search platform Jobandtalent to trial for the sale of their shares to a foreign investor, in May 2016.

A court in Madrid is holding a hearing today to analyse the lawsuit that the former shareholders of Jobandtalent presented against the creators of the company, Juan Urdiales, Felipe Navío and Félix Ruiz (co-founder of Tuenti, Playtomic or Auro ), due to the economic consequences that, allegedly, the breach of a contract resulted in from the transfer of its shares without prior notice, CincoDías reports citing legal sources.

The litigation focuses on determining what the market value of the shares was and, if the claim is upheld, what amount should be returned to the former shareholders of Jobandtalent.

Cortina Koplowitz and his father were among the first to invest in JobandTalent. At the end of 2014, Cortina Koplowitz joined the board. In May 2015, Cortina Koplowitz's investment group led the financing round of €23 million in JobandTalent along with other well-known investors. Just one year later, due to the arrival of new international investors, Cortina Koplowitz and Cinainvest Holding agreed to exchange 315,000 shares in Jobandtalent for 3% shares in Jobandtalent UK, where all of the platform's national and international business resides, since 2016. According to reported sources close to the case, before closing the exchange, the founders of the staffing platform communicated that the shares were not freely transferable and, therefore, only the economic rights of the shares could be transferred. All this, under the promise of being able to sell them as soon as the temporary restrictions disappear.

Pelayo Cortina Koplowitz and Cinainvest Holding then signed two purchase and sale contracts with Urdiales, Navío and Ruiz. The first established that if these shares were sold to third parties, the Cortina Koplowitzes would obtain the proportional part of their market value at the time of the transfer. The second agreement established a purchase and sale option for the shares. The former shareholders claim in their lawsuit that the founders did not comply with the agreement, since two days after the agreements were sealed, 312,000 shares were sold to the Atomico investment fund, but without informing the former shareholders who learned of this fact at the end of 2019.

The founders of JobandTalent said they met all financial obligations, in accordance with the agreed payment conditions. “We trust the authorities and we anticipate a quick resolution to close this chapter as soon as possible,” Jobandtalent officials told the newspaper.

Note: This story has been updated from a previous version to clarify that the founders of JobandTalent, not the company itself, are facing the court.