Sanus-Ace: Negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding in external corporate venturing.

Abstract

This negotiation case describes a situation in which an investment manager of a large chemical company (ACE) has to decide about a corporate venturing investment in a small high-tech start-up (Sanus). To win board approval for this investment, an ACE business unit (in this case, ACE Food Specialties) must write a letter of commitment. The investment manager of ACE Venturing cannot invest in the start-up without a MoU between the start-up and the business unit of ACE. This case provides the required information for a negotiation between the investment manager, the business unit manager, and the start-up’s CEO. During the negotiation, students should discover that it is possible to draft an MoU which is beneficial for the two firms.