Kpmg

Joint Ventures

A tool for growth during an economic downturn

2009

© 2009 KPMG International. KPMG International provides no client services and is a Swiss cooperative with which the independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated.

02 Joint Ventures

Our focus on joint ventures

Do joint ventures1 offer an opportunity for expansion in

these tough times?

Contents

Our focus on joint ventures

2

What we discovered

3

What’s their motivation?

4

Facing the challenge

6

Secrets of success

8

Taking care of business

10

Eye on the future

12

A helping hand

14

About the survey

15

KPMG believes that they can. Joint venture activity has

been increasing over the past few years and shows every

sign of continuing on an upswing, potentially a big one.

We believe that the downturn and lack of credit will be

a primary driver for this. Access to specific capabilities

and intellectual property, getting closer to the customer

and winning contracts in new markets are other key

drivers. We also think that SWFs and private equity can

play an important role as potential partners and sources

of finance.

KPMG has been watching this rise in joint venture activity

with keen interest. Following the production of in- depth

case studies into several large multinational alliances,

KPMG commissioned the Globalization and Strategy

Research Center at IESE Business School in Spain to

explore joint ventures in greater depth.

senior executives across major industry sectors throughout

the world about their joint venture experiences during the

last five years. (See p15 for more details.)

The results reveal some fascinating insights, including key

factors that contribute to successful joint ventures, and

pitfalls to avoid. In an increasingly complex and uncertain

environment, companies are further challenged to

compete and cooperate across various parts of the value

chain. The findings, presented in...