yhteenliittymään

Yhteenliittymä (illative: yhteenliittymään) is a Finnish term used to describe a cooperative arrangement in which two or more parties join forces to pursue a common goal. The concept is common in business, construction, and public procurement, where a temporary alliance can combine resources, expertise, and capacities that a single entity could not provide alone. The term is often synonymous with a consortium or joint venture, though the exact legal form depends on the agreements between the participants.

A yhteenliittymä may take different legal shapes. It can be a contractual consortium, where partners collaborate without forming a new company, sharing liability and profits according to a contract. Alternatively, the parties may establish a new legal entity, such as a joint venture or another corporate form, specifically for the project. In either case, the arrangement defines governance, decision-making rights, financial contributions, liability, and exit or dissolution procedures.

Formation and operation typically involve clearly set terms for resource contributions, risk sharing, intellectual property, dispute resolution, and performance benchmarks. Because such alliances are often project-specific, they tend to be temporary and dissolved after the project is completed, though some arrangements evolve into longer-standing partnerships.

Legal and regulatory aspects vary by jurisdiction and context. In Finland, yhteenliittymät are common in public procurement, where consortium structures enable participants to meet technical and financial requirements. Liability and taxation depend on whether a contractual consortium or a separate legal entity is used.

See also: consortium, joint venture, strategic alliance, public procurement consortia.