demerger

De-Merger

A situation in which a company sells one or more of its subsidiaries. Shareholders in the original company are usually given the same proportion of shares in the newly independent company. See also: Spin-off, Divestiture.

Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved

demerger

the break-up of a company, often originally formed through a MERGER, into two (or more) separate companies. This is most easily achieved when the original businesses comprising the merger have continued to be run as separate divisions of the enlarged group. In this case, for example, the A-B company could be split into separate quoted companies, A and B, with the company's existing shareholders being given shares in both companies. Thus, unlike a DIVESTMENT (the sale of a division to outside interests) or a MANAGEMENT BUY-OUT (the sale of a division to its existing management), initially at least the companies continue to be owned by their existing shareholders.

A demerger may occur because the merged company has failed to perform up to expectations because of internal conflicts of management, or may result from a rethink of the company's BUSINESS STRATEGY favouring a concentration on ‘core’ businesses.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005