As the Covid-19 induced crisis progresses, we expect companies to separate portions of business. Such actions will be driven by strategic decisions to divest businesses and/or valuation creation opportunities. These may take form of spin-offs, carve-outs or sales.
Primary reasons for spin-off include (i) Value creation – both for parent company and new separate public company; (ii) Certainty of execution; (iii) Tax free to parent and its shareholders; (iv) Can be run parallel with other divestiture alternative. These are typically a 6-12-month process that involves carving out a business from the parent (e.g. financials, management). It involves various documentation and filing requirements (e.g. SEC filings, IRS private letter ruling) and may or may not be preceded by an IPO. We provide an overview here.