External Publications

Closing the Governance Gap in Joint Ventures

Businesses are increasingly partnering to meet their strategic objectives — but neglecting governance puts JVs and their shareholders at risk.

Authored By

James Bamford

Shishir Bhargava

Neetin Gulati

Tracy Branding Pyle

Joshua Kwicinski

Companies are entering into joint ventures at an unprecedented rate. Across a wide range of industries, firms are using JVs and other partnerships as a way to make their businesses more sustainable and to gain access to capabilities, capital, and scale. PepsiCo recently entered into a joint venture with Beyond Meat to develop and market sustainable protein-based snacks and beverages. General Motors has entered into more than 10 JVs in the past two years alone, including one with Plug Power to develop hydrogen fuel cells for light commercial vehicles. Globally, the number of material new JVs has more than doubled in the past two years, outstripping merger and acquisition activity during the same period.

Read the full article originally published in the MIT Sloan Management Review.

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About the Authors

James Bamford

James Bamford is a Senior Advisor at Ankura based in Washington, DC. He joined Ankura with the firm’s 2020 acquisition of Water Street Partners, which he co-founded in 2008. Water Street Partners has been independently ranked as the number one global advisor on joint ventures since 2017. Prior to Water Street, he was global co-lead of the Joint Venture & Alliance Practice at McKinsey & Company.

Shishir Bhargava

Shishir Bhargava is a Managing Director at Ankura based in Washington, DC. He advises clients on transactions and their post-deal governance in the energy, natural resources, and technology sectors. His transaction experience includes developing deal strategies, screening investments, structuring and restructuring joint ventures, and minority equity investments. He also helps companies build transaction capabilities and negotiate better outcomes. Prior to Ankura, Shishir worked at IBM where he led JV and partnership deals and at Hero MotoCorp of India, the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, which was established as a joint venture with Honda Motorcycles of Japan.

Neetin Gulati

Tracy Branding Pyle

Tracy Branding Pyle is a Managing Director at Ankura who specializes in helping organizations navigate complex transactions, and, in particular, joint venture-related transactions. She works with a wide array of U.S. and international companies across industries to help them structure, negotiate, approve, and launch joint ventures to set these ventures up for success. She additionally advises on governance of individual joint ventures and portfolios of joint ventures to help companies to minimize risk, increase efficiencies, and find value. Prior to joining Ankura, Tracy practiced law at Hogan Lovells, where she advised clients on joint ventures, public and private mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance matters. Tracy is based in Washington, DC.

Joshua Kwicinski

Joshua Kwicinski is a Managing Director based in Washington, DC. He has more than a decade of experience in advising on all aspects of the partnership lifecycle, including deal strategy, transaction structuring, ongoing governance, and restructuring/exit. He has advised senior executives and dealmakers at both a corporate and individual JV level across a range of industries, including oil and gas, metals and mining, aerospace and defense, financial services, biotechnology, and others.

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