A joint venture is an enterprise entered into by two or more people for profit, for a limited purpose, such as purchase, improvement and sale or leasing of real estate. A joint venture has most of the elements of a partnership, such as shared management, the power of each venturer to bind the others in the business, division of profits and joint responsibility for losses. However, unlike a partnership, a joint venture deals with a specific area of activity and/or period of operation, so after the purpose is completed, bills are paid, profits (or losses) are divided, and the joint venture is terminated.
Often, each class of major participant in the venture has the right to appoint and remove a certain number of directors. Each participant, either as shareholder or at board level, may have a right of veto over decisions, and participants mayhave the right to appoint the same number of directors. Classes of shares are often categorised as 'A shares', 'B shares', etc and the directors appointed by them as 'A directors' , 'B directors', etc.
