Inside the Strategy Room 264. Creating value through separations
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Aug 14, 2025 Jamie Koenig and Anna Mattsson, both partners at McKinsey, dive deep into the art of corporate separations and spin-offs. They explore the critical role of divestitures in enhancing shareholder value, discussing six types and key trends. The duo emphasizes the emotional complexities of separating from integral corporate assets and the importance of a compelling equity story to gain investor trust. They also highlight the significance of speed and effective negotiation in managing talent and long-term agreements during these transitions, ultimately showcasing how separations can unlock substantial value.
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Divestitures Unlock Focused Growth
- Most divestitures aim to unlock growth and improve financial performance across the parent portfolio.
- Companies that review portfolios actively and act create more shareholder value than those that assume bigger is always better.
Resource Separations Properly
- Do allocate adequate resources to the separation program even if the asset is non-core and leadership wants to move on quickly.
- Under-resourcing separations commonly leads to value leakage and downstream execution failures.
Boards Drive Delays And Doubts
- Board deliberations frequently delay separations and correlate with broader project setbacks.
- Boards most often hesitate over valuation, timing, and stranded costs when deciding to divest.