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LAW OF OBLIGATIONS

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The Term Business Partnership and the Legal Status of

Business Partnerships

Att. Tuna F. Colgar

Introduction

As a result of developing commercial activities and large-scale

investments, especially concluded in the fields of construction, energy

and mining, companies are seeking to participate in these investments

by uniting their powers and expertise to take advantage of financial

opportunities together. This tendency among companies has caused the

term “Business Partnership” to appear more frequently in commercial

life. In this regard, it is necessary to determine the legal status of the

term Business Partnership and to study the legal structure of the Business

Partnership to be established. This article will assess the legal nature of

Business Partnerships between parties and in relation to third persons.

The Definition of Business Partnership and Its Legal Status

A “Business partnership” is defined as the relationship established

by the gathering of more than one economically and legally independent

real or legal persons within the context of an agreement, for the purpose

of performing the contractual activates that has been committed to the

project owner, mostly in the construction business, provided that each

partner of the Business Partnership is separately liable to the project

owner, for the fulfillment of the work in full

In line with this definition, in practice, Business Partnerships are

formed by the gathering of two or more companies that are legally and

financially independent from each other, within the context of an agreement

concluded between themselves, for the purpose of conducting certain

business together without distinguishing the parts related to their expertise

areas and thus jointly and severally sharing the risk of that business.

The characteristic of the business partnership and the aspect

distinguishing it from a consortium is that in business partnerships, the

Article of June 2013

Nami Barlas

, Adi Ortaklık Temeline Dayalı Sözleşme İlişkileri, 3. Bası, İstanbul 2012, p. 277.