Until now, the general approach has been that a company cannot claim privilege against its own...
Sometimes the best way to achieve your commercial objectives is to combine your resources with those of another business or businesses through a joint venture. This can be by way of joint ownership of a separate company or limited liability partnership or by way of a commercial agreement, and sometimes by way of a combination of the two.
We have many years’ experience in assisting businesses with joint ventures, large and small. Let us deal with the legal issues so that you can concentrate on the important commercial issues in the knowledge that, should matters not proceed as planned, your interests are properly protected.
Advantages of a joint venture
Joint ventures can often enable parties to access markets or to offer products which they would be unable to offer or access alone. The sharing of resource may take many forms including, joint research and development, complementary knowledge sharing such as territorial knowledge and technical know-how or a marrying of financial strength and inventive flair.
We have experience of joint ventures in many different scenarios ranging from joint ventures between commercial enterprises through to joint ventures between research institutions and commercial enterprises leading to the commercialisation of new technologies.
Common issues
Pooling of assets, including know how and technology, often gives rise to complex legal issues. Questions may also arise as to how the joint enterprise is to be managed and controlled, how disputes are to be resolved and how the joint venture may ultimately be exited.
A separate joint venture entity
Where a joint venture proceeds by way of a separate limited company, it will usually require bespoke articles of association and shareholders agreements, with each participant likely to have certain rights attaching to its shares and certain obligations to the joint venture entity as well as to the counterparty.
Cross border joint ventures
Cross border joint ventures may have their own complexities, including matters involving jurisdiction and choice of law, cross border tax issues and exchange rate and currency issues. We have experience of many joint ventures with an international dimension, often working with professional advisers in other disciplines and jurisdictions.