Oneida Associés was a partner of the last Restructuring & Transformation Summit, which took place on September 17, 2025, in Paris.

Benoît Parnet and Emmanuel Dampoux, Partners in the M&A Solutions department, were interviewed by Mathieu Meffre, Director of Leaders League & B SMART 4 CHANGE, following their presentation at the conference “Succeeding in a Carve-Out: A Multi-Handed Score”.

They highlighted several essential factors for a successful carve-out, especially for underperforming businesses:

• Anticipate the operation as early as possible to limit the impact of the carve-out on the organization and business of the non-strategic activity to be divested.
• Manage the M&A process always with a tailored approach (each case is specific) with the objective, on the one hand, of making the value proposition of the activity to be divested attractive by objectively highlighting its differentiating assets (market positioning, value chain, etc.) and, on the other hand, of identifying strategic partners/buyers who could quickly generate leverage for its (re)development, particularly on the commercial front if the activity is underperforming.
• Keep the environment under control before, during, and after the transaction, particularly by taking into consideration the stakeholders in the M&A operation (employee representatives, union delegates, local elected officials, public authorities, media, etc.), for example, in the context of a carve-out of an underperforming and/or socially sensitive activity.
• Finally, we emphasized the importance of creating the conditions to build trust with all “stakeholders” during the preparation, prospecting, and negotiation phases. To do this, it is important to assemble a “dream team” with a committed and responsive internal project team and, of course, to surround oneself with experienced advisors.