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Creating a Joint Venture in Italy

Creating a Joint Venture in Italy

A way in which foreign investors can access the Italian market is by creating a joint venture, which is a type of legal entity set up to manage a specific task. Under the Italian legislation, the entrepreneurs who want to establish this type of business form have several legal options through which they can incorporate the legal entityOur team of Italian lawyers can assist both local and foreign investors with relevant information referring to the legislation established for the joint ventures

What is a joint venture?  

The Italian joint venture is a type of business entity which is set up by at least two partners, who can be represented by natural persons or legal entities. Usually, the joint venture is established for a determined period of time, which is calculated taking into account the duration needed to accomplish a specific business goal; our team of Italian attorneys can offer more details on the legal aspects of a joint venture

Set up an Italian joint venture 

In order to register a joint venture in Italy, the investors (or shareholders) have two distinctive legal ways: 

• the contractual joint venture, which means that the investors are not required to register a new legal entity;

incorporated joint venture, represented by one of the legal entities prescribed by the Italian law.

Contractual joint ventures in Italy can be set up as a consortium, a temporary group represented by legal entities or participation agreements. 

The joint ventures registered as legal entities are usually set up under a limited liability company or joint stock corporations. According to the Article 2341 bis of the Italian Civic Code, the shareholders agreement referring to the control of the joint stock corporation must have a duration of maximum five years. The rule provides an exception under the same article, which refers to cooperation agreements established for the production of goods and services where the parties have full ownership of the joint venture

It is important to know that the minimum share capital required for the incorporation of a joint venture is established at EUR 50,000 for the joint stock company and EUR 10,000 for the limited liability company.  

Businessmen interested to know further details on the joint ventures in Italy can address to our Italian law firm for legal assistance.