This article originally appeared in The Edge Markets.

Is it time to split up?

Each week brings with it news of the latest multi-business public company looking to ignite shareholder returns by separating. Sometimes compelled by external pressure from activist investment funds, spin-offs are taking place across a range of industries.

HP Inc and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, eBay and PayPal are among the most recent examples, and the list keeps growing.

Corporate break-ups may be in vogue, but are they worth it? Separations are costly; one-time costs typically amount to 1% to 2% of revenue, and sometimes more for the most complex separations. They are time-consuming, too, generally taking 12 to 18 months from decision to close. As anyone who has embarked on a separation can attest, they are also resource intensive and distracting for an organisation, causing a high degree of inward focus.

The big question for boards and CEOs pondering such a move is, “Does the breakup succeed in creating shareholder value?” The answer is, “sometimes”. We determined this by analysing the performance 18 months post-separation of 40 transactions involving companies valued at more than US$1 billion in the 2001 to 2010 time frame. We focused on deals in which two separate public companies were formed out of a portfolio in which there had been some level of strategic and operational integration.

Read more at The Edge Markets.