Instead of licensing Ticketmaster's system, however, AEG this week entered a joint venture called Outbox Enterprises.

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Wal-Mart has an equally owned joint venture in India with Bharti Enterprises Ltd.

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The offsetting of refinery shutdowns in the Northeast by, for instance, the expansion of Motiva Enterprises a joint venture between Shell (RDS.A) and Saudi Refining of its Port Arthur, Texas refinery to 600, 000 barrels a day, may also help prevent supply-constraint driven gasoline prices spikes.

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Yet many of the partners, often government-owned enterprises, are so short of cash that they take money out of the joint venture, even if this means cutting back on investment.

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