Joint Venture Solicitors

Our corporate and commercial law solicitors, based in Holborn and with over 20 years of experience, can assist you with putting together domestic or cross-border joint ventures and draft comprehensive agreements that protect your best interests.

Last reviewed: August 2026

If you are entering a joint venture with another business in England and Wales or abroad, the structure you choose, incorporated or contractual, and the governance provisions you agree at the outset determine whether the venture can actually function once real decisions have to be made. Our multi-lingual corporate and commercial law solicitors structure and negotiate joint ventures for businesses of every size and market sector.

What does our joint venture service cover?

A joint venture combines legal structuring with commercial negotiation, and the right approach depends on the parties’ objectives and appetite for control. Our team advises and acts on:

Structuring joint ventures as an incorporated jointly owned company or as a contractual arrangement between the parties.
Drafting and negotiating joint venture agreements, including capital contributions, profit sharing, and governance rights.
Reserved matters and voting thresholds, setting out which decisions require unanimous or enhanced consent between joint venture partners.
Deadlock provisions, including escalation clauses, buy-sell mechanisms, and casting vote arrangements for evenly split ventures.
Intellectual property ownership and licensing between joint venture partners, including what happens to IP on exit.
Exit and termination provisions, addressing how a party can leave the venture and how the venture’s assets are divided.
Competition law considerations, including merger control thresholds where a joint venture may require notification to the CMA.
Funding arrangements between joint venture partners, including further capital contributions and shareholder loans.
Resolving disputes between joint venture partners, including breaches of the joint venture agreement.

Why choose Law Lane Solicitors for joint ventures?

Most joint venture disputes trace back to a governance gap agreed in haste at the outset: a deadlock clause never drafted, uncertain profit distribution, or an exit mechanism never defined. Our company and commercial team structures joint ventures with an eye to how the venture will actually be governed once the parties are no longer aligned on every decision.

We tell you honestly where a proposed structure leaves you exposed, whether you hold an equal stake or a minority position in the venture. We negotiate governance and exit provisions that protect your position without making the venture unworkable, and we bring the same scrutiny to intellectual property and funding terms that we apply to a share sale or acquisition. As a full-service firm, we also advise on the competition law, property, and employment issues that can arise within a joint venture.

Get in touch

If you are structuring a new joint venture, or you need to resolve a dispute with an existing partner, our commercial team can put an agreement in place that actually works. Phone 020 7870 4870 or email info@lawlanesolicitors.co.uk to make an appointment.

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Frequently Asked Questions – Joint Ventures

What is the difference between a joint venture and a partnership?

A joint venture is typically structured as a separate company or contractual arrangement between businesses pursuing a specific project or objective, while a partnership involves individuals or entities carrying on a business together on an ongoing basis. Joint ventures can be incorporated, through a jointly owned company, or unincorporated, through a contractual joint venture agreement. We advise on which structure fits your specific project and exit expectations.

What should a joint venture agreement cover?

A joint venture agreement should set out each party’s contribution, decision-making rights, profit and loss sharing, deadlock resolution, intellectual property ownership, and what happens if a party wants to exit or the venture fails to achieve its purpose. Gaps in any of these areas tend to surface only once the venture is underway and a disagreement has already started. We draft agreements that anticipate where joint ventures typically come under strain.

How are deadlocks resolved in a fifty-fifty joint venture?

Deadlock provisions typically escalate a dispute from direct negotiation between senior representatives to mediation, and, if that fails, to a buy-sell mechanism or a casting vote arrangement agreed in advance. Without a deadlock clause, an evenly split joint venture can grind to a complete standstill with no built-in route to resolution. We draft deadlock mechanisms that give both parties a workable way out.

Who owns intellectual property created during a joint venture?

Ownership of intellectual property created during a joint venture depends entirely on what the joint venture agreement says, and without clear drafting, disputes over ownership are common once the venture ends or a party exits. We draft IP ownership and licensing provisions that reflect what each party actually contributed and expects to take away.

How much does an initial consultation cost?

We offer a fixed-fee initial consultation for company and commercial matters. At that meeting, we listen to your situation, identify the legal issues, and explain the steps and costs involved. Get in touch to arrange a time.