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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Expertise & Experience

In this section

We have international experience of advising on the creation, operation and termination of joint venture agreements and strategic alliances.

As business models continue to move away from outright ownership towards joint ventures and strategic alliances, you need the support of a strong team. Our clients want to leverage products, technology and customers – we put a legal framework in place to help achieve these goals.

We assist you at every stage – from the inception of the joint venture through business planning, evaluation and implementation. We add value by combining our experience of structuring joint venture vehicles with relevant legal expertise in related fields. Drawing on our capability in the competition/antitrust, regulatory, tax and dispute resolution fields, we offer you an integrated service focused around your commercial needs.

You will benefit from our vast experience of complex cross-border deals and multi-jurisdictional projects. We provide you with an informed, international and comprehensive view of factors ranging from choice of law issues to the alliance structure itself.

Our joint venture experience ranges from multi-billion US$ quoted companies with two or more strategic shareholders, to significant unquoted corporate ventures. We advise on strategic alliances, often among competitors, in corporate or other forms. We also advise on cross-selling agreements and patent licensing deals.

Client experience

  • Advised Mondelēz International, Inc. on the combination of its global coffee business with DE Master Blenders 1753 BV in a joint venture with annual revenues in excess of US$7 billion
  • Advised Goldman Sachs Asia Strategic Pte. Ltd on its joint venture with AION Capital Partners in respect of the acquisition of the InterGlobe Technologies Private Limited group
  • Advised Air France-KLM, Air France and KLM regarding a new transatlantic joint venture with Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways
  • Advised Volkswagen on a Gigafactory joint venture with Swedish Northvolt AB
  • Advised Pfizer on its joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline to create a global consumer healthcare company
  • Advised Merck KGaA on a global strategic cooperation agreement with GlaxoSmithKline
  • Advised AUDI AG, BMW Group and Daimler AG on the formation of a consortium and the joint acquisition of HERE digital mapping business from Nokia
  • Advised Airbus Group on the tax aspects of the creation of their joint venture with Safran, Airbus Safran Launchers
  • Advised Vermaat Groep BV, the Dutch market leader in high-end catering and hospitality services and portfolio company of Partners Group, on the establishment of a joint venture with Käfer AG
  • Advised GE Aviation on an MRO joint venture in Singapore with SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC)
  • Advised LV= on its joint venture with Allianz, creating the UK’s third largest personal insurer with over GBP£1.7 billion annual premium income
  • Advised China's State Grid International Development Co. Ltd., the largest utility company in the world, on its joint venture with Rosseti OAO, Russia's largest power transmission and distribution company
  • Advised NBCUniversal on the sale of its joint venture share in The History Channel (Germany) GmbH & Co. KG to companies belonging to A+E Networks
  • Advised Airbus Group on the finalisation of its Joint Venture with Safran, Airbus Safran Launchers
  • Advised Mubadala on its high profile 50/50 joint venture with Trafigura.
  • Advised Actis on a joint venture with Mainstream Renewable Power to establish a USD$1.9 billion pan-African renewable energy generation platform, Lekela Power
  • Advised Schibsted ASA, Telenor Group and Singapore Press Holdings, on a series of joint ventures and other transactions for the development of online classifieds platforms
  • Advised Inmarsat on its strategic partnership with Deutsche Telekom. The partnership will allow Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom to deliver the fastest, and most consistent in-flight broadband experience to Europe’s aviation industry and its customers