Letter of Intent or Memorandum of Understanding - General Form regarding a Business Transaction being Negotiated

A letter of intent (LOI) is a document outlining preliminary agreements or understandings between parties in a transaction. This type of document is sometimes referred to as a "Letter of Understanding" or "Memorandum of Understanding." Generally, a LOI should not be a legally binding contract. Its purpose is to describe important business terms or identify the key business and contractual understandings which will form the basis of the final contract. These include such issues as monetary terms, financing, contingencies, risk allocation, form of documentation and who will prepare the documentation. Many times, negotiating parties would be unwilling to invest further time, energy and money in negotiating a deal if these understandings were not clearly spelled out. (more...)