The rise in carve-out transactions: How can a business prepare for a successful divestment?

Minimising disruption

UK corporates have long used divestments as a tool to unlock value from operations that are no longer deemed strategic priorities and to better allocate those resources to other areas of the business.

During times of economic volatility, divestments help businesses to streamline their operations, bolster liquidity, and strengthen the balance sheet to service existing debt obligations. This rang true during the pandemic, as the value of UK carve-out transactions increased in 2020/21 by 182% from the previous year, to exceed £30.8bn. With companies now vying to supercharge their recovery and growth as the economy emerges from the pandemic, the volume of carve-out transactions is likely to remain high as corporates pursue targeted acquisitions across core sectors. Rising interest rates m...