Separations and carve outs

Freshfields consistently ranks as the #1 law global law firm by value for cross-border M&A, spin-offs and divestment deals, and we leverage that experience to get our clients the best results.

We have market-leading experience on buy-side and sell-side separations (including carve-outs, spin-offs and demergers) across a variety of sectors, acting for large corporates as well as private capital investors. We understand the complexities inherent in these types of transactions and can help you anticipate these to manage risk and maximise value at every stage of a separation project. Our experience isn’t limited to the legal issues, and we work across the broader operational and commercial touchpoints, including structuring and tax considerations, as well as partnering with businesses to define the carve-out perimeter, identifying key assets and liabilities that will transfer or be retained.

We work as a fully integrated carve-outs team with experts for every issue. At the heart of our team are corporate, commercial, IP and data lawyers, who work efficiently as one lead team within our transactions practice. On a complex separation project they leverage our employment, pensions, tax, financing, regulatory and antitrust colleagues, so that our unrivalled bench strength ensures we’ve got all the angles covered.

We are able to offer bespoke AI and legal tech to drive efficiencies. The Freshfields Lab offers tools – which we have honed on multiple large projects – to simplify global and complex carve-outs and to boost efficiency.