Joint venture
A joint venture is a business undertaking in which two or more parties combine resources and share control, risks, and profits for a common purpose.
Joint venture agreement: A contract setting out the contributions, governance, objectives, and other terms of a joint venture. It translates the parties’ shared purpose into enforceable commitments and decision rules.
Capital contribution: Money, property, or other value supplied to a business by an owner or participant. Contributions fund the venture and may determine ownership shares or other economic rights.
Strategic alliance: A cooperative arrangement between organizations pursuing shared goals while remaining independently organized. An alliance may coordinate activities without the shared control and pooled undertaking characteristic of a joint venture.
International joint venture: A joint venture involving participants based in different countries or operations spanning national borders. Cross-border ventures combine local and foreign resources while navigating multiple legal systems.
Antitrust law: Law that regulates competition and restricts conduct or transactions that harm competitive markets. Cooperation between competitors can raise questions about market power, information sharing, and independent conduct.
Equity joint venture: A joint venture in which participants hold ownership interests in a jointly established or acquired entity. A shared legal entity is one common way to hold venture assets and divide returns.
Profit sharing: The distribution of business profits among participants according to an agreed formula. The parties specify how returns from the common undertaking are divided.
Partnership: A business relationship in which two or more persons carry on an enterprise together, often sharing profits. A partnership can arise under its own legal rules, unlike a venture deliberately structured as a project or entity.
Research and development: Systematic work to create knowledge, products, processes, or improvements through research and development. Companies pool expertise and costs when developing technology or products together.
Technology transfer: The movement of technical knowledge, methods, or intellectual property between organizations or people. A venture can give participants access to technologies they could not develop or deploy alone.