2015 may be the year of company spin-offs

Spinmania is crossing the Atlantic. If 2014 was the year of the US corporate spinoff, the next 12 months may see the trend grow in Europe.

This year has seen activist shareholders — keen to maximise returns from their investments — push to unravel US mergers that created unwieldy conglomerates. Now, bankers predict their tactics will spur similar activity across Europe.

European companies announced just 32 spinoffs this year, compared with a record 100 in the US, where such plans by Hewlett-Packard and Ebay were greeted with rising share prices. There may be more opportunity for these moves on the European continent, said Severin Brizay, head of mergers and acquisitions in Europe, Middle East and Africa at UBS Group.