A de-merger is a corporate restructuring in which a business is broken into components, either to operate on their own, or to be sold or to be liquidated as a divestiture. A de-merger (or "demerger") allows a large company, such as a conglomerate, to split off its various brands or business units to invite or prevent an acquisition, to raise capital by selling off components that are no longer part of the business's core product line, or to create separate legal entities to handle different operations.