Against the backdrop of continued economic uncertainty, inflation and rising interest rates, nearly half (47.9%) of M&A professionals say they are likely to pursue a divestiture in the coming 12 months, according to a recent Deloitte poll. Among those contemplating divestitures, 40.4% of those polled say their organizations are likely to pursue 1-2 divestitures in the year ahead while 7.5% say their organization may pursue as many as 3-4.

1. Be a prepared seller:
Divestitures accounting and
tax considerations
Deloitte poll results
May 2023

2. Be a prepared seller: Divestitures accounting and tax considerations
Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 2
Methodology
520+
M&A professionals were polled online during
a Deloitte webcast titled “Be a prepared
seller: Divestitures accounting and tax
considerations” on January 25, 2023. Answer
rates differed by question.
In some instances, immaterial amounts (e.g., +/-
0.1%) have been added to or removed from the
“Don’t know/not applicable” answer responses to
bring results to 100% total for each question.

3. Be a prepared seller: Divestitures accounting and tax considerations
Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 3
During the next 12 months, how many divestitures is your company likely to pursue?
Don’t know / not applicable = 26.0%
Votes received 1,136
None
1-2 3-4
47.9% of M&A pros are likely
to pursue a divestiture in the
next 12 months
26.1%
7.5%
40.4%

4. Be a prepared seller: Divestitures accounting and tax considerations
Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 4
During the next 12 months, which type of divestiture(s) is your organization most likely to pursue?
Don’t know / not applicable = 14.6% for M&A professionals who are likely to pursue a divestiture in the next year
Votes received 522 (snapshot of just M&A professionals who are likely to pursue a divestiture in the next year)
Spin-off (e.g., split a business unit under its original
parent company)
Sell-off (e.g., sale of a business unit or company to
another organization)
Equity carve-out (e.g., partial sale of a business unit
to the public markets via IPO)
De-merger (e.g., split a business unit and dissolve
parent company)
13.8%
54.4%
13.8%
3.3%

5. Be a prepared seller: Divestitures accounting and tax considerations
Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 5
Votes received 1,696
During the next 12 months, which is most likely to drive your organization's divestiture of assets?
Don’t know / not applicable = 27.4%
24.2%
20.0% 19.8%
8.6%
Need to divest
noncore assets
Need to raise cash to
support future
operations
Need to strengthen
the balance sheet
(incl. divestment of
underperforming
assets)
Need to improve the
organization’s ESG
profile

6. Be a prepared seller: Divestitures accounting and tax considerations
Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 6
Votes received 1,437
During the next 12 months, do you expect the duration and extent of buyer-requested divestiture due
diligence to change?
Don’t know / not applicable = 23.7%
6.4%
34.7%
35.2%
Yes, increase
Yes, decrease
No change

7. Be a prepared seller: Divestitures accounting and tax considerations
Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 7
Media Contacts
Christine Oh
Public Relations
Deloitte & Touche LP
chrisoh@deloitte.com
Taylor Graham
Public Relations
Deloitte Services LP
tagraham@deloitte.com

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Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
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