LuckyM, a good JV is about more than the straight dollars. You want the other players to bring something you can't - expertise, labour, technology, location, powerful friends, legitimate registration in a particular jurisdiction etc.
It's hard to convert these into a NPV equation. Please try to find a way - you WILL be awarded a Nobel Prize.
IMHO EVG did the right thing here - JV wasn't working, so find the best way out. They did just that.