Business Alliances

This chapter describes the various forms of cooperative relationships common in business today, including joint ventures, partnerships, strategic alliances, equity partnerships, licensing agreements, and franchise alliances. The primary theme of this chapter is that well-constructed business alliances often represent viable alternatives to mergers and acquisitions, and they always should be considered one of the many options for achieving strategic business objectives. This chapter details the wide variety of motives for business alliances and the factors common to most successful alliances. Also addressed are the advantages and disadvantages of alternative legal structures, important deal-structuring issues, and empirical studies that purport to measure the contribution of business alliances to creating shareholder wealth.