First things first: As long as Tric's offer stands, I'll happily cover any extra he needs to pay to beat your offer free of charge, because it is incredibly good for me. You don't have the resources to outbid me, you certainly don't have the resources to outbid him, and nobody has the resources to outbid both.
that said, while Tric's offer is incredibly good, there is room for a more expansive and fair partnership. I am working on a draft contract, although I still need to cover a few chapters regarding stock issuing and expedition costs, maybe responsibilities of members and CEO, etc.
Here is the draft:
This document creates the company named “Motherland Trade and Exploration Company”. The company shall be divided in 100 shares, each worth 0.25 guineas. Those shares are to be issued with the express purpose of gathering 20 guineas and 5 royal favours, with each favour valued as 1 guinea for the purpose of share purchases.
The mission of the company will be to:
a) Explore new routes, by funding existing explorers and by chartering a caravel for exploration use.
b) Utilize the exclusive charts given to secure profits for the company and its shareholders.
c) Seek to keep markets at a stable and profitable level by judicious use of the exclusive charts
In this first round of equity sales, 40 shares will be issued, for a total of 10 guineas, to be used to bid on Luther van Pillar.
Revenue from the company shall be retained by the company treasury; at the beginning of every season the company shall distribute 50% of the revenue gained in the previous seasons to shareholders, equally to their share in the company. The remaining part will stay within the company for use in further investments. The share of revenue belonging to unowned shares of the company will stay within the company. Shareholders can, with a majority vote, decide to withdraw money from the company treasury, which will be divided equally to the share in the company, this time not including unowned shares.
The company shall elect a CEO to carry on the operations of the companies including price setting and contract signing. The CEO shall be paid at the beginning of every season in the measure of 10% of the revenue generated the previous season. This payment happens before the dividend described in the previous section. Decisions of the CEO can be overturned by a 65% vote and likewise replacing the CEO requires a 65% majority.
The reason for the limited initial issue is that currently we don't have the favour to buy an exploration license and in any case launching so close to Ludvig would be a waste. There is only so much exploration the market can bear, waiting a couple of turns would only be healthy, so there is no reason to lock funds in there for this time.