Equity investors purchase ownership shares in a private firm in the expectation of benefiting from the firm's profits over time. This can happen in a number of ways: annually (in the form of dividends, or distributions of annual profits); when they use their shares as collateral to borrow money; or when they sell their shares after the firm has increased in value (capital gain). Agreeing whether and how the ownership of firms involved in partnership arrangements can change over time will also often be a major topic of negotiation. For example, if an international operating company is the part- owner of a partnership company (and the primary source of technical and managerial expertise for the partnership), should it be allowed to sell some or all of its shares in the company and, if so, when?