The Joint Venture (JV) Handbook

JVs were once the domain of international market entry – a “necessary evil” to comply with restrictions on foreign ownership. In so doing, they also afforded access to local expertise and enabled companies to effectively “trial” a foreign market entry with a smaller commitment of resources – and with a natural exit option in the event that the trial failed. However, the nature of JVs has changed. Previously in decline, we have seen a new surge in collaborative deals in many sectors and countries, with the primary impetus being to gain access to positional assets, organizational capabilities and technologies, to gain scale, or to syndicate risk and capital. JV success is as much about creating an attractive opportunity as it is about finding an attractive opportunity – deal design, design of the operating model and implementation. Our perspectives are based on our research, empirical data and field experience.