Joint Venture Agreement Format & Required Documents in India
Agreement & Contract

Joint Venture Agreement Format & Required Documents in India

Joint Venture Agreement

A business arrangement between two or more parties who come together to pursue a specific project or economic opportunity is known as a joint venture. Joint ventures can involve any number of participants. Each participant in a joint venture contributes resources, such as money, skills, technology, or other assets, with the end goal of accomplishing a common mission or achieving a shared target. All of the participants in the joint venture will receive an equal share of the venture's earnings and losses, in addition to the risks that are associated with the enterprise. The pursuit of commercial prospects in international markets may also involve the formation of joint ventures with businesses based in different nations.

It is important to have a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each party in a joint venture, as well as the terms of the agreement, which include the duration of the venture, the distribution of profits and losses, and the exit strategy. In addition, it is important to have a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each party. It is possible to help ensure that all parties benefit from the endeavour and that potential risks and problems are reduced by engaging in careful preparation and drafting a well-thought-out agreement for the joint venture.

Joint Venture Agreement

A joint venture agreement for construction and other industries is a legally binding document that outlines the terms and conditions of a joint venture between two or more parties. It specifies the objectives of the venture, the contributions of each party, the distribution of profits and losses, and the rights and obligations of each party involved.. Some key clauses of a Joint Venture Agreement are:

  • Incorporation Clause: This Clause would talk about the setting up of the new entity/special purpose vehicle.

  • Purpose: This Clause highlights the reason behind the parties entering into a joint venture agreement.

  • Management clauses: The clauses which relate to these may include Management, Procedure at Board Meetings, Managing Director, and Shareholders Meeting (all about the prospective entity under the JVA).

  • Boilerplate Clauses: Standard clauses such as termination, indemnity, jurisdiction etc. are boilerplate clauses. These are common across all Joint venture agreements.

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Documents required to form a Joint Venture in 2023:

Now, let’s delve right into the different documents, agreements, and other requisites of a Joint Venture. There are mainly three steps of forming a joint venture, and each step consists of its own specific paperwork. These three steps and their respective documents are as follows:

  1. Preliminary agreements: Term Sheets, Memorandum or Understanding or Letter of Intent.

  2. The Joint Venture Agreement (the “JVA”): The heart of the Joint Venture formation process.

  3. Other Requirements: Smaller agreements which ensure smooth functioning of the Joint Venture.

Memorandum of understanding (“MoU”) for a Joint Venture Agreement

A MoU, forms the basis for the prospective Joint Venture Agreement. Although such MoUs are non-binding, certain clauses like confidentiality, non-compete, non-solicit, etc., are made binding.

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Term Sheet for a Joint Venture Agreement

Term Sheets are along the same lines as MoU/LoI and serve almost the same purpose. However, Term Sheets are more direct. A Term Sheet for a JVA will focus much less on formalities and straightaway list down the main deal points of the joint venture arrangement. So, you can assume that it’s more about preference whether one executes a MoU/LoI or a Term Sheet.

Requirements for the Formation of a Joint Venture

Although we’ve already gone through the major requirements for joint venture construction agreement, let us not forget the previously mentioned third step, i.e, the other agreements necessary for the proper functioning of a joint venture. You already know that the parties to a JVA must pool in their resources to set up the prospective entity. For this purpose, the following are required:

  • Business Transfer Agreement: A party to a JVA might want to contribute certain assets or technical know-how to the prospective joint venture. Or, perhaps a party may even want to transfer their whole business to this new entity. Either way, for this purpose, a Business Transfer Agreement needs to be executed to effectuate the same.

  • Transfer of Intellectual Property: Intellectual Property like Patents are instrumental in providing the necessary leverage to the new entity. For this purpose, the parties to the contract need to License and/or Assign their intellectual property to the new entity. Such Assignment or Licensing can either be incorporated as clauses in the JVA itself, or separate agreements with regards to these can be executed.

Joint Ventures in the Real Estate and Construction Sector

Joint venture agreement for construction are utilised in a variety of sectors whenever two parties wish to work with one another. The Real Estate and Construction Industries are Not an Exception to This Rule. One of the most common forms that this kind of business takes is when one party only contributes the land for the sake of development, while the other party is responsible for providing all of the resources, construction supplies, and labour necessary to build the project. After that, each party receives their fair share of the income. 

The JVAs in the Real-Estate sector are often referred to as Joint Development Agreements (“JDA”). This terminology is prevalent in the real-estate sector. In a JDA, no new entity is created under the agreement between the parties.

A Joint Venture Agreement hence is a complex agreement and before you enter into the same, do consult a lawyer. A lawyer would counsel you on the various clauses and would also assist you in the negotiation process.