A joint venture agreement is not a 'one-size-fits-all' document. If you choose to go into a business venture with another person... a joint venture... the chances are that some aspect of your agreement with the other party will be unique to your joint venture.
Joint Venture Agreement Lawyers NSW
For this reason, you should be wary of using a standardised template of a joint venture agreement… even if it is attractively priced (free) and easily downloadable over the Internet. We guarantee such an agreement won’t adequately document the terms of your joint venture.
Joint venture agreements need to be prepared by someone trained in the art of crafting legally enforceable agreements… a lawyer.
We customise every joint venture agreement we prepare for our clients.
In doing so, unashamedly we are doing what is the right thing by our clients, with whom we want lasting and trusting relationships.
Before we start drafting the joint venture agreement we have our clients consider a range of issues that could arise between the joint venturers. This is done with a view to facilitating the parties agreeing on how these issues are to be dealt with in the joint venture agreement. We don’t have any part in this process other than to highlight the common issues.
Once the parties agree on the issues to be dealt with in the joint venture agreement, and how they are to be dealt with, we then proceed to craft a first draft of the joint venture agreement. This generally is followed by some ‘tooing’ and ‘froing’ between the parties’ lawyers until there is agreement on the fine print. We then finalise the form of the joint venture agreement and arrange for all parties to sign it.
If this sounds like the kind of service you were looking for, please contact our Business Team to get started.
Do the parties involved need to have a joint venture agreement?
“I say yes, but that’s just my opinion… ultimately it is a matter for the parties involved to decide as there is no legal requirement to have a written joint venture agreement.
The reason I say yes, is because a well thought out and drafted joint venture agreement, can save all the parties involved from a lot of uncertainty by providing clarity as to the rights and obligations of each party. Not having a joint venture agreement, in my opinion, doesn’t pass the sleep test, i.e. the uncertainty created by not having one is likely to eventually keep you awake at night.”
– Gavin Hanrahan, Partner
Joint Venture Agreements / Collaboration Agreements
The term ‘Joint Venture’ is commonly used in Australia to describe a business relationship between two or more parties where there is a goal of seeking mutual profit / benefit. The parties involved in joint ventures often bring something different to the table, i.e. skills, resources, expertise, knowledge or connections.
Joint Venture Examples
- An architect, builder and developer might all enter into a joint venture to design and build accommodation for students in urban areas.
- A celebrity, chef and investor might all enter into a joint venture to launch a new themed restaurant in Sydney CBD.
- A writer, illustrator and publisher might all enter into a joint venture to launch a new children’s book.
Risk & Outcomes
Joint ventures always involve an element of risk in order to secure a positive outcome (profit). Such an outcome often takes years to come to fruition and requires a lot of ongoing investment (financial, time, etc.) by all involved parties.
A Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) spreads risk (liabilities) across all parties, as opposed to letting it all fall on the shoulders of an individual party.
Types of Joint Venture Agreements
A joint venture can be structured as either:
- Unincorporated Joint Venture – The relationship is governed by the terms within the agreement.
- Incorporated Joint Venture – A separate company is setup. All involved parties take up shares in this company. The company then owns all the assets related to the joint venture and conducts its business activity through its board of directors (i.e. the parties involved in the joint venture). Note that this also requires a shareholders’ agreement.
Why should you have a lawyer draft your joint venture agreement?
Is there a standard joint venture agreement template I can use?
Yes. Do we recommend using one? No.
Standard joint venture agreement templates can be found online via a quick search on Google. However, these basic templates are written with generic terms and conditions that are unclear, generalised and ambiguous. If you use one of these templates you run the risk of the agreement being unenforceable.
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