New emphasis on divestment opportunities.

Now that the great acquisition movement of the 1960's has passed into history, some experts think that a significant movement toward divestiture has begun. Since every acquisition implies a divestiture, and vice versa, any "movement toward divestiture" would represent a change primarily in market emphasis and attitudes, rather than a change in the volume of acquisition/divestiture transactions. The author explains why he thinks this reversal in emphasis is likely to occur, and suggests that the rules by which the game is played, as well as just its name, are also going to change. He then characterizes the ways companies have approached divestiture in the past--as the "unpleasant underside" of acquisition, as it were--and goes on to describe the new character we can expect divestiture to assume in the coming years. Perhaps his most important conclusions are that companies will come to regard divestment as a useful and legitimate tool of corporate planning and strategy, and that they will approach it far more calmly, deliberately, and rationally than they have done heretofore. In analyzing the historical patterns of divestiture and projecting what the new emphasis on divestiture will mean, the author has drawn on his experience in a long-continuing research project on the nature of the divestment process, supported by the Harvard Business School's Division of Research. While working on this project, he has had the opportunity to study divestiture in some 18 companies. He concludes the article with recommendations as to how companies might begin to rationalize their approaches to divestment opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]